Comparison
London vs Edinburgh
Renting in London costs £674/month more than Edinburgh.
London figures shown here are averages across all 33 London boroughs. Costs vary significantly between boroughs. To compare a specific borough, try our comparison tool - for example, Camden, Hackney, or Tower Hamlets.
London, England vs Scotland
Rent comparison
Overall, renting in Edinburgh is £674/month cheaper than London - that's £8,088/year.
Source: ONS Price Index of Private Rents (PIPR)
Earnings comparison
Residents of London earn £2,970/year more than those in Edinburgh.
Source: ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings
House prices comparison
Source: ONS / HM Land Registry
Council tax comparison
You would pay £464/year more in council tax (Band D) living in London than in Edinburgh.
Source: MHCLG / Scottish Government / Welsh Government
Band D is used as the standard benchmark for comparing council tax across areas. Other bands are set as fixed proportions of the Band D amount.
Energy comparison
Energy estimates are based on the Ofgem price cap, which is set nationally. Regional variation is small; we show the same headline figure across regions for transparency.
Source: Ofgem Energy Price Cap, Q2 2026
Water comparison
Water in London costs about £186/year more than in Edinburgh.
Source: Water UK / Discover Water, 2026-27
Water company boundaries don't always align cleanly with local authority boundaries; the company shown here is the most common provider in each area.
Compare different areas
Learn more about each area
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.