The Ultimate Guide to Moving to London 2024

Considering moving to London?

Larger than the next 2 biggest UK cities combined, it’s clear London is an in-demand place to live. 

But before you pack your bags, make sure you read this guide. Below you’ll find everything you need to know about moving to London — including some things about the city you may not have considered yet.

Overview

London has the highest population density in the UK with 5,598 people per square kilometre - in other words, space is tight! p>

Between 1990 and 2020, the Old Smoke’s population increased from 6.7 million to 9 million. This is due to a combination of immigration and an increase in the number of births.

Data from: https://data.london.gov.uk/dataset/londons-population

Major airports: Heathrow Airport, Stanstead Airport, London City Airport, and Gatwick Aiport. 

London Median Income

£44,370 - which is the highest in the UK at 26.89% the national average higher than the national average of £34, 963. Which will come in handy given that London has by far the highest cost of living, rent, groceries and restaurants in the country. 

London’s Average Home Price

£732,367 according to Zoopla. 

That’s more than 2.5 times higher than the UK. median home price of £284,691! 

London Tax Rates

You can learn more about taxes on https://www.gov.uk/income-tax-rates

Tax rates in England are the same, regardless of where you live. 

London Unemployment Rate

3.8%, which is a bit higher than the national average of 3.6%. 

Job market

London’s economy is diversified, with plenty of opportunities in finance (London’s largest industry), media, tourism, finance, technology, services and retail. London was posting extremely strong economic growth until 2020 and COVID-19. However, unemployment rates are once again at pre-COVID levels so there is still plenty of opportunity.   

London Crime rate 

London has the 5th highest crime rate in the UK. However, where in London you live will greatly impact your experience so be sure to look up the crime rates of areas you’re looking to move to and factor this in to your decision. As always, the most expensive areas tend to be the safest. 

Politics

London trends young and diverse, therefore the city heavily leans towards Labour. The YouGov 2022 survey put Labour on 50 per cent, more than twice as high as the Conservatives on 23 per cent.

If the political leaning of your local councillor is important to you, this information is readily available online. Just type in ‘councillor in YOUR BOROUGH’ and you’ll be able to glean the political leaning and policies of your councillors. 

Religion

Surprisingly, London is the most religious place in the UK. Here’s the breakdown:

• Christianity (48.4%)
• Not religious (21.7%)
• Islam (12.4%)
• Hinduism (5.0%)
• Judaism (1.8%)
• Sikhism (1.5%)
• Buddhism (1%)

What’s there to do in London? 

No matter what you like to do, you’ll likely find something you love in London.

Arts and Culture:

London’s boroughs are filled with art and history museums. The city regularly hosts national tours of musical and stage acts and boasts local art communities of all sizes. London is also home to the British Museum, the Tate Galleries, the National Gallery, the Notting Hill Carnival and The O2. 

Nightlife:

London isn't the nightlife capital of the UK - that spot is held by Newcastle. However the city is still abuzz with things to do at all hours of the night and plenty of famous nightclubs - Fabric, Heaven, Cargo, Ministry of Sound ·and Printworks to name a few - wine bars, cocktail clubs and music venues so there's something for everyone known.

Family entertainment:

London is incredibly family friendly, with a wide variety of kid-friendly events, classes, children’s museums, parks, and youth sports at all levels.

Food and drink:

London boasts a thriving food and drink scene. The city is home to a number of famous restaurants, including the Duck & Waffle, Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, Sketch and Moor Hall.

Outdoors:

London has an incredible variety and number of incredible parks. Home to Battersea Park. Bushy Park, Hampstead Heath, Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens, Regents Park and Richmond Park. No matter what outdoor activities you love — skiing, snowboarding, hiking, running, kayaking, boating, horseback riding, rock climbing, stargazing, photography, and more — you can find them, usually within a very easy travelling distance.

How to Move to London: Step-By-Step

So one of London’s beautiful boroughs or towns caught your eye, or you’re intrigued by the quality of life in the Big Smoke. Here’s a step-by-step guide to moving to London.

Step 1: Visit the city and explore

As you might have gathered from this guide so far, London has so much to offer. The best way to get a feel for the city and whether you’d like to call it your new home is to visit and explore as much of it as you can. From the Regents Park to South Kensington from Hackney to Brixton, London really does have something for everyone.

Step 2: Choose a city to call home

Choosing the city you’ll call home is no small feat. Here's what you need to remember when choosing a new place to live:

• The cost of living
• The cost of housing
• Your profession
• Amenities you’d like to have nearby
• Your lifestyle and hobbies
• Your short- and long-term goals

Step 3: Choose a home type

One of the great things about all the variety London offers is that you can also choose just about any type of home. If you want a downtown apartment on a bustling street, London has that. If you want a suburban home with a huge backyard for pets and kids, London has that too. If you want acreage to raise animals, or even a full-blown farm, you can find both in London.

That’s why the next step is to decide what type of home you’d like to live in. You can do this before or after choosing a city, since the home type you want might help narrow down the list of top towns in London.

Step 4: Set a budget

If you plan to buy a home in London, reach out to lenders for loan pre-approval, which will help you determine what kind of budget you can set for your house search.

If you plan to rent a home, there are plenty of options for you, too — just keep in mind that a general rule of thumb (and qualification for many landlords and property managers) is that rent should cost no more than 1/3 of your monthly income.

When considering your home budget, keep in mind that you’ll also have moving expenses. These can be quite high depending on where you’re moving from — a cross-country move for a family can easily cost thousands of dollars.

Step 5: Find a home

If you’re planning to buy a home, you can start your search online. But in a housing market as hot as London’s, you might have better luck finding a real estate agent you want to work with, and letting them bring home options to you - it just requires much less searching through houses you definitely don’t want. 

Just be aware that the UK is notorious for being one of the slowest buying processes in the world. So it might be advisable to rent while you wait for your purchase to go through.

If you’re planning on renting, sites like spareroom, onthemarket are great if you’re willing to houseshare. While rightmove and zoopla are all good options if you want a place to yourself. Similar to buying a home, if you want to rent but not share, a good agent can really help you sift through the may available properties and ensure you only have to look at properties you’ll actually like.

Insider tip some Londoners will avoid agents and try and go direct with a Landlord. That’s because agencies are notorious for unfair charges and poor service - this is especially true of a city like London where people are constantly coming and going: i.e. even bad agents can get plenty of business. Additionally, agents will take a fee from landlords for the upkeep and maintenance of their properties. Often these additional costs are passed on to the tenants. Most housing sites will allow you to filter by landlord so you can avoid agents if you want.

Step 6: Plan and make your move

Once you’ve decided where you’re moving and found your new home in London, the planning process will be similar to any other move.

Use Stashbee to Find Storage in London

Once you’ve moved to your new home in London, you might find that you have more belongings than you can fit in your space.

If so, you can find storage on Stashbee. Stashbee will connect you with people in your community that have available space where you can store your belongings. It’s by far the most affordable way to store, it’s safe, and it helps bring communities together. Find storage space in London today.