This is officially the UK’s cheapest place to live alone

We’ve all suffered from the nightmares of living in a houseshare. Even if you’re under the same roof as your best friend, tensions inevitably crawl out over whether to turn the heating on, who forgot to lock the door, whose turn it is to take the bin out. In many ways, things would be a lot easier if you could just go it alone. 

But flying solo isn’t always a cheap option. Earlier this year, research found that singletons living alone spend on average £3,195.24 more a year than their cuffed-up pals who live with their partners. 

It doesn’t have to be that spenny to live alone, though. Chartered surveyors Stokemont analysed the rent and utility costs in the UK’s 20 biggest cities to determine where living alone is most affordable. 

Towns in north England and the Midlands dominated the list, with Hull coming in at the cheapest place to live on your own. Average monthly rent there is £453, while utilities and bills tend to cost £616 per month – that all adds up to a total of £1,068.

Bradford landed in second place with an average monthly living cost of £1,136 for people residing on their ones. In third place was Derby with a monthly cost of £1,255, in fourth place was Stoke at £1,323 and coming in fifth was Leicester at £1,387. 

At the other end of the spectrum, London (big shock) was revealed as the most expensive city to live alone in, followed by Bristol, Edinburgh, Manchester and Leeds. 

Here are the top ten cheapest UK cities to live alone, according to Stokemont:

1. Hull
2. Bradford
3. Derby
4. Stoke 
5. Leicester
6. Sheffield
7. Cardiff 
8. Coventry
9. Birmingham
10. Nottingham 

Living through the cost of living crisis

We’re all being affected by the rising costs of literally everything right now. Whether it’s changing the way we party, packing everything up and moving abroad or becoming a serial pet-sitter, Time Out has covered many of the weird and wonderful lengths Brits are going to to save a bit of cash. Plus, here’s the cheapest place to retire to right now, the cheapest supermarket to shop at and the city selling the cheapest pints. 

Did you see that these are the UK’s most scenic bus routes, according to the Guardian?