Overview across 33 London boroughs

Cost of living in London

Q: What is the average rent across London?

The average monthly rent across London is £2,106. one-bed flats average £1,620, two-beds £2,030, three-beds £2,372, four-bed properties £3,224. This is the average across all 33 London boroughs. Source: ONS Price Index of Private Rents.

Q: What is the average salary across London?

The average (median) annual salary for residents across London is £40,350, which works out to approximately £3,363/month before tax. The mean average is £57,034, which can be higher due to top earners. Figures are averaged across all 33 boroughs. Source: ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings.

Q: What is the average house price across London?

The average house price across London is £570,010. detached houses average £1,583,113, semi-detached £1,154,877, terraced £838,370, flats £449,482. Source: ONS / HM Land Registry.

Q: How much is council tax across London?

Council tax across London ranges from £1,393 (Band A) to £4,180 (Band H). The Band D rate, used as the standard benchmark, is £2,090 per year. Your band depends on your property's valuation.

Q: How much are energy and water bills across London?

A typical household across London pays approximately £1,641/year (£137/month) for gas and electricity, based on the Ofgem price cap. Water bills with Thames Water average £666/year (£56/month).

Q: Is London an affordable place to live?

Around 67.8% of the average salary goes to rent and council tax for a single person. Housing costs take up a larger share of income here compared to much of the UK.

Q: How does London compare to other areas?

You can compare London with any other UK area using our comparison tool. We compare rent, earnings, house prices, council tax, and energy costs side by side. Compare London now.

Q: What is the cheapest London borough to live in?

Based on a single-person monthly cost basket, the cheapest London borough is Hillingdon at around £1,936/month. Average rent there is around £1,549/month, still above the UK average but well below most of inner London.

Q: What is the most expensive London borough?

Kensington and Chelsea is the most expensive London borough on our single-person cost basket, at around £3,249/month. Average rent is around £3,599/month, more than double the cheapest borough's figure.

Data last updated: 14 May 2026

Page last reviewed: 24 June 2026

London is made up of 33 local authority areas, each with different costs. This page shows the average across all London boroughs alongside a borough-by-borough breakdown.

London is not one place when it comes to cost of living. The gap between its cheapest and most expensive boroughs is wider than the gap between most cities and the rest of the country. On our single-person monthly cost basket, a renter in Hillingdon spends around £1,936/month, while the same person in Kensington and Chelsea pays over £3,249/month. That is a difference of roughly £1,313 every month for the same essentials basket: rent, council tax, energy, water, groceries and transport.

Across all 33 boroughs, the average rent is around £2,106/month. That is well above the UK average and a long way above the rest of southern England, although the figure hides how wide the borough range is.

Average earnings for London residents are around £40,350/year, comfortably above the UK average. The catch is that London's cost basket is so much wider than its salary premium that the average resident still spends a far higher share of their take-home pay on essentials than the rest of the country. The average single-person essentials basket across London boroughs is around £2,325/month, against a UK-wide average of about £1,461/month.

The figures lower down this page are averages across every London borough. The borough-level picture below shows how uneven that average really is.

Most expensive London boroughs

The five highest-cost boroughs by single-person monthly basket. Inner west London dominates the list, with rent doing most of the heavy lifting.

Kensington and Chelsea - around £3,249/month , average rent £3,599/month , average salary £46,690/year.
Westminster - around £3,122/month , average rent £3,122/month , average salary £45,172/year.
Islington - around £2,797/month , average rent £2,763/month , average salary £47,411/year.
Hackney - around £2,656/month , average rent £2,598/month , average salary £40,237/year.
Camden - around £2,642/month , average rent £2,654/month , average salary £44,088/year.

Cheapest London boroughs

The five lowest-cost boroughs on the same basket. These are still well above the UK average, but the spread within London means the cheapest end can run a third of the price of the most expensive.

Hillingdon - around £1,936/month , average rent £1,549/month , average salary £36,429/year.
Havering - around £1,942/month , average rent £1,566/month , average salary £40,726/year.
Bexley - around £1,944/month , average rent £1,531/month , average salary £36,883/year.
Sutton - around £1,951/month , average rent £1,545/month , average salary £38,359/year.
Croydon - around £1,983/month , average rent £1,560/month , average salary £38,080/year.

London boroughs ranked by monthly cost

All 32 boroughs covered, sorted from most to least expensive on a single-person monthly basket (rent, council tax with the single occupant discount, energy, water, groceries and transport).

#	Borough
1	Kensington and Chelsea	£3,249/mo	£3,599	£46,690	96.1%	1,497
2	Westminster	£3,122/mo	£3,122	£45,172	85.3%	3,799
3	Islington	£2,797/mo	£2,763	£47,411	74.4%	1,337
4	Hackney	£2,656/mo	£2,598	£40,237	82.6%	1,176
5	Camden	£2,642/mo	£2,654	£44,088	77.2%	1,796
6	Tower Hamlets	£2,634/mo	£2,396	£45,183	67.7%	1,064
7	Hammersmith and Fulham	£2,592/mo	£2,724	£42,811	79.9%	1,089
8	Lambeth	£2,581/mo	£2,525	£43,666	74.1%	1,136
9	Wandsworth	£2,542/mo	£2,593	£49,310	65.2%	766
10	Southwark	£2,506/mo	£2,388	£43,006	71.2%	1,215
11	Richmond upon Thames	£2,436/mo	£2,302	£46,594	64.6%	575
12	Haringey	£2,348/mo	£2,209	£37,563	76.7%	1,070
13	Newham	£2,313/mo	£1,912	£36,080	69.0%	1,037
14	Ealing	£2,290/mo	£2,051	£35,665	75.0%	811
15	Merton	£2,278/mo	£2,083	£43,507	62.4%	605
16	Brent	£2,256/mo	£1,969	£34,871	74.2%	900
17	Hounslow	£2,256/mo	£1,907	£35,301	71.0%	869
18	Greenwich	£2,228/mo	£1,944	£39,984	63.6%	904
19	Barnet	£2,188/mo	£1,928	£39,239	64.4%	668
20	Lewisham	£2,155/mo	£1,810	£39,505	60.6%	939
21	Waltham Forest	£2,114/mo	£1,753	£37,971	61.7%	811
22	Harrow	£2,105/mo	£1,754	£36,000	65.4%	587
23	Kingston upon Thames	£2,103/mo	£1,796	£41,833	57.8%	670
24	Enfield	£2,092/mo	£1,770	£34,962	67.2%	856
25	Barking and Dagenham	£2,079/mo	£1,687	£32,911	68.2%	842
26	Redbridge	£2,078/mo	£1,720	£37,190	61.7%	738
27	Bromley	£2,007/mo	£1,670	£43,981	50.4%	699
28	Croydon	£1,983/mo	£1,560	£38,080	56.0%	806
29	Sutton	£1,951/mo	£1,545	£38,359	54.5%	599
30	Bexley	£1,944/mo	£1,531	£36,883	56.2%	611
31	Havering	£1,942/mo	£1,566	£40,726	52.1%	682
32	Hillingdon	£1,936/mo	£1,549	£36,429	56.6%	917

"Affordability" is the share of average earnings spent on rent and council tax for a single person. Lower is better. Crime rate is recorded crimes per 10,000 residents from the Home Office.

London vs the rest of the UK

Across all 33 London boroughs, the average single-person monthly cost is around £2,325, compared with a UK-wide average of about £1,461. That is roughly £864/month more, or about £10,368 a year, for the same basket.

London salaries do offset some of that gap. The average resident's earnings are well above the UK average, and senior earners in finance, law, tech and consulting can command meaningfully higher pay than they would elsewhere. The maths depends entirely on where in the salary distribution you sit. Our comparison tool lets you put any London borough side by side with a city outside London (try London vs Manchester or London vs Leeds as starting points).

£2,106/mo

Average rent

£40,350/yr

Average earnings

£570,010

Average house price

£2,090/yr

Council tax (Band D)

£193/mo

Est. energy & water

Rent in London

The average monthly rent in London is £2,106.

1 Bed

£1,620 /mo
2 Bed

£2,030 /mo
3 Bed

£2,372 /mo
4+ Bed

£3,224 /mo

Source: ONS Price Index of Private Rents (PIPR)

Earnings in London

The average annual salary for residents of London is £40,350.

Median

£40,350

per year

Mean

£57,034

per year

We use the median (middle value) as the average throughout this site. This is more representative than the mean, which can be skewed by extremely high or low values.

Source: ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE)

Got a job offer in London?

Use our salary calculator to see your take home pay and how it compares to the local average.

Calculate your take home pay

Average house prices in London

The average house price in London was £570,010.

Detached

£1,583,113
Semi-detached

£1,154,877
Terraced

£838,370
Flat

£449,482

How house prices have changed in London

Average house prices over time, based on quarterly rolling-year medians from Land Registry data.

Source: ONS / HM Land Registry. Historical trend based on quarterly rolling-year median prices.

Council tax in London

Band D council tax in London is £2,090 per year.

Band A

£1,393
Band B

£1,626
Band C

£1,858
Band D

Benchmark

£2,090
Band E

£2,555
Band F

£3,019
Band G

£3,483
Band H

£4,180

Source: MHCLG / Scottish Government / Welsh Government

Energy costs in London

A typical household in London pays approximately £1,641/year (£137/month) for gas and electricity.

Annual

£1,641

per year

Monthly

£137

per month

Energy region: London

This estimate is based on the Ofgem price cap for a typical dual-fuel household using 2,700 kWh of electricity and 11,500 kWh of gas per year, paying by Direct Debit. Your actual costs will depend on your usage, tariff, and whether you're on a fixed deal.

Source: Ofgem Energy Price Cap, Q2 2026

Water costs in London

The average annual water and sewerage bill for Thames Water customers is £666/year (£56/month).

Annual

£666

per year

Monthly

£56

per month

Water company: Thames Water

Water bills vary based on whether you have a meter and your household's water usage. This figure is the company average for unmetered customers.

Source: Water UK / Discover Water, 2026-27

Want a personalised estimate?

Adjust for your household size, housing type and transport to get a monthly cost tailored to you.

Calculate your costs in London

Explore London boroughs

Each London borough has its own costs. Click through for the full breakdown.

Barking and Dagenham

Avg. rent: £1,687/mo
Council tax: £2,199/yr

Barnet

Avg. rent: £1,928/mo
Council tax: £2,133/yr

Bexley

Avg. rent: £1,531/mo
Council tax: £2,366/yr

Brent

Avg. rent: £1,969/mo
Council tax: £2,235/yr

Bromley

Avg. rent: £1,670/mo
Council tax: £2,140/yr

Camden

Avg. rent: £2,654/mo
Council tax: £2,208/yr

City of London

Avg. rent: N/A
Council tax: £1,330/yr

Croydon

Avg. rent: £1,560/mo
Council tax: £2,600/yr

Ealing

Avg. rent: £2,051/mo
Council tax: £2,139/yr

Enfield

Avg. rent: £1,770/mo
Council tax: £2,268/yr

Greenwich

Avg. rent: £1,944/mo
Council tax: £2,108/yr

Hackney

Avg. rent: £2,598/mo
Council tax: £2,060/yr

Hammersmith and Fulham

Avg. rent: £2,724/mo
Council tax: £1,520/yr

Haringey

Avg. rent: £2,209/mo
Council tax: £2,314/yr

Harrow

Avg. rent: £1,754/mo
Council tax: £2,511/yr

Havering

Avg. rent: £1,566/mo
Council tax: £2,425/yr

Hillingdon

Avg. rent: £1,549/mo
Council tax: £2,045/yr

Hounslow

Avg. rent: £1,907/mo
Council tax: £2,186/yr

Islington

Avg. rent: £2,763/mo
Council tax: £2,108/yr

Kensington and Chelsea

Avg. rent: £3,599/mo
Council tax: £1,667/yr

Kingston upon Thames

Avg. rent: £1,796/mo
Council tax: £2,609/yr

Lambeth

Avg. rent: £2,525/mo
Council tax: £2,047/yr

Lewisham

Avg. rent: £1,810/mo
Council tax: £2,237/yr

Merton

Avg. rent: £2,083/mo
Council tax: £2,147/yr

Newham

Avg. rent: £1,912/mo
Council tax: £1,944/yr

Redbridge

Avg. rent: £1,720/mo
Council tax: £2,295/yr

Richmond upon Thames

Avg. rent: £2,302/mo
Council tax: £2,486/yr

Southwark

Avg. rent: £2,388/mo
Council tax: £1,967/yr

Sutton

Avg. rent: £1,545/mo
Council tax: £2,379/yr

Tower Hamlets

Avg. rent: £2,396/mo
Council tax: £1,838/yr

Waltham Forest

Avg. rent: £1,753/mo
Council tax: £2,387/yr

Wandsworth

Avg. rent: £2,593/mo
Council tax: £1,028/yr

Westminster

Avg. rent: £3,122/mo
Council tax: £1,050/yr

Beyond London: commuter areas

Local authorities just outside Greater London that people often weigh against a London borough on cost. Trains into central London run from each of these.

Slough

South East, England

Avg. rent £1,567/mo

Dartford

South East, England

Avg. rent £1,556/mo

Thurrock

East of England, England

Avg. rent £1,344/mo

Watford

East of England, England

Avg. rent £1,813/mo

Epsom and Ewell

South East, England

Avg. rent £1,682/mo

Elmbridge

South East, England

Avg. rent £1,832/mo

Runnymede

South East, England

Avg. rent £1,567/mo

Wokingham

South East, England

Avg. rent £1,479/mo

Compare London with another area

Frequently asked questions about London

What is the average rent across London?

What is the average salary across London?

What is the average house price across London?

How much is council tax across London?

How much are energy and water bills across London?

Is London an affordable place to live?

How does London compare to other areas?

What is the average cost of living in London?

What is the cheapest London borough to live in?

What is the most expensive London borough?

What is the average rent in London?

What is the average salary in London?

How much are bills in London per month?

Figures on this page are averages across all 33 London boroughs. Individual borough costs may vary significantly. See individual borough pages for specific data.

Data on this page is sourced from: ONS Price Index of Private Rents (PIPR), Scottish Government Private Sector Rent Statistics, ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, ONS / HM Land Registry House Price Statistics, MHCLG / Scottish Government / Welsh Government council tax data, Ofgem Energy Price Cap, and Water UK / Discover Water. All official data is published under the Open Government Licence.