Life in the United Kingdom is definitely easier with a car, especially if you live in a rural area or just a little bit off the beaten path. Expat living in London often makes owning a car seem rather unnecessary, but Britain’s charming countryside may provide less in the way of public transport. However, having a car in the UK entails quite a few requirements – and we aren’t only talking about getting used to driving on the left side of the road!

Driving Permits

First of all, you should check if you are even allowed to drive a car in the UK. If you are planning to stay for less than a year, e.g. for a business project or as a visiting student, you can just keep using your overseas driving permit. Everyone who would like to reside in the United Kingdom for over twelve months, though, needs either a “community license” or a British permit.

A community license is one that was issued in any EU or EEA member state. So, if you move from Spain to England, for example, your driving license will simply stay valid. Drivers from most other countries, however, have to apply for a provisional driver’s license and pass a driving test. There are a few exceptions: If your original license is, for instance, from Australia, Canada, or New Zealand, you can just swap it for a UK one without the test. Unfortunately, there’s no way around the driving exam for lots of non-European expatriates.

Car Imports

Obviously, a driving permit isn’t much use without a car. If you’d like to bring along your own car when moving to the UK, you have to be aware of British import requirements. In case that you’d like to drive in the UK for six months or less, you can go on using your old car. You don’t have to register it, and you needn’t pay any vehicle tax. For short-term expats from all EU member states, this is par for the course. But if you arrive in Britain from outside the EU, contact the customs office as soon as your car is shipped there. They may have to decide on a case-by-case basis if you can import the vehicle for personal use, even if it’s only for six months. Car imports from outside the European Union may also require you to pay customs duties and import tax.

Vehicle Registration

If you take up residence in the UK, your car needs to pass certain standard inspections. It must also be registered in Britain. First, the Vehicle Certification Agency must confirm that your car meets specific requirements for the UK (e.g. a speedometer which shows both km/h and mph). Cars imported from non-EU countries, e.g. from North or South America, must then undergo an additional examination, the Standard Approval Test. And then, your car still has to go through the so-called MOT test, a routine inspection according to Ministry of Transport guidelines. Only then can you go to the DVLA (Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency) for registration.

Considering all this effort, it may be easier just to lease or buy a car directly in the UK. But no matter where you have purchased it, if you own the car, you always have to get car insurance and pay vehicle tax. Once you’ve paid the required taxes for your car, you will get a small tax disc to put on display on its windshield. Vehicles that do not have an up-to-date tax disc may be clamped or impounded, so don’t forget about your vehicle tax!

• McDonalds medium meal deal (burger + medium fries + medium drink): ₤ 3.60
• Pint of beer in a traditional British pub: ₤ 2 (₤ 1 on Monday / ₤ 3 in after-office pubs)
• Lunch / Dinner Menu in a traditional British pub (Main dish and beverage): ₤ 5
• Dinner for 2 at a standard restaurant with a bottle of wine: ₤ 35
• Donner Kebab with chips: ₤ 3
• 2 liters of milk: ₤ 1
• Small latte ( "tall" in British English) in coffee chains (Starbucks, Cafe Nero, Costa): ₤ 2
• Bus ticket in Leeds: ₤ 1.60 single trip / ₤ 3.20 free day ticket (non-peak)
• Underground (tube) single trip ticket in London: ₤ 4.00 (any area)
• London underground (tube) day pass, zones 1 to 2: ₤ 7.20 (peak hour) / ₤ 5.60 (non-peak hours)
• London underground (tube) day pass, zones 1 to 3: ₤ 8.60 (peak hour) / ₤ 6.30 (non-peak hours)
• London underground (tube) day pass, zones 1 to 4: ₤ 10.00 (peak hour) / ₤ 6.30 (non-peak hours)
• London underground (tube) day pass, zones 1 to 5: ₤ 12.60 (peak hour) / ₤ 7.50 (non-peak hours)
• London underground (tube) day pass, zones 1 to 6: ₤ 14.80 (peak hour) / ₤ 7.50 (non-peak hours)
• London underground (tube) day pass, zones 1 to 9: ₤ 16.20 (peak hour) / ₤ 9.00 (non-peak hours)
• Sunday newspapers (Times, Observer, Independent): ₤ 1.80 / ₤ 2
• Cinema’s ticket: ₤ 11.90 (Saturday, London) / ₤ 6.80 (Saturday, Leeds)
• Cigarettes pack: from ₤ 5 (20 cigarettes)
• 4 500ml beer pack 500ml (stores): ₤ 4

The prices of the products and services in the list above are generally the same throughout the UK, regardless of where you buy them, although there may be slight differences. We didn’t include products which prices vary considerably depending on the store where you buy (e.g.: clothes). We will write about clothing stores in another post.

Take a look at this post from time to time as we'll update it with current prices and other products / services that may arise from your comments about the cost of living in England. Find below other posts we wrote about cost of living in the UK with prices in other areas that might be of your interest:

• Food and general household products: The most current and accurate information in your area can be found at the official web pages of the most popular supermarkets in London and rest of the UK. Take a look to a previous post regarding supermarkets in the UK by clicking here.
• Apartment rentals in the UK: If you are looking for an idea about rental prices in London and the rest of England (e.g. Leeds) we wrote a post regarding rentals in the UK here.
• Utilities in the United Kingdom: Whenever you consider apartment rental costs, you should also consider the utilities. We wrote a post regarding utilities in the UK here.

Basic Services

It would be very difficult to live without them during your time in England:

• Water: The main provider is generally a local company where you live. The cost is usually an annual fixed amount, and like most other utilities in the UK, you have the option to pay the full amount in one single payment or split it through installments. If you choose to pay the full annual amount on one single payment, you generally receive a 10% discount. In my case, in Leeds, the monthly cost was 20 pounds, so consider that your amount will be around that amount. And as I previously said, the cost is usually fixed so you will avoid surprises at the end of the month.
• Electricity: There are a lot of players on the electricity so you will have several providers to choose from with different offers. For example, two of the biggest companies are Scottish Power and npower. The monthly cost will obviously depend on your consumption. But be prepared to pay no less than 60 pounds a month. Your energy consumption will depend on whether you live in a full electricity apartment or you have gas also. If you have gas, this cost will be split between gas and electricity bills. Before renting, you should also ask the landlord if the apartment has Economy 7 energy system, very common in the UK. Economy 7 energy system consists in a device installed in your flat that stores energy at night, period of the day when electricity costs are cheaper and then, the stored energy is used during the rest of the day. This system will considerably reduce your monthly bills. As a tip, don’t make the common mistake of turning off the heating system when leaving your apartment, since it is better to have it permanently running at an average level rather that turn it off and let your apartment cool down completely. When you turn it on again, the heater will spend the same power you saved, probably more. As an alternative, you can arrange a monthly average payment with your energy supplier to keep monthly bills at a fixed cost and avoid surprises. But bills are amended quarterly to reflect your actual consumption, so if you spend more than the fixed cost you arrange, your installments will be adjusted after 3 month to reflect that. On the other side, the provider will reduce the installments cost if you spend less.
• Gas: In my apartment I didn’t have gas and you will probably be in the same situation, since gas is becoming less common in the UK. In case you have gas, the providers usually are the electricity ones, and they offer comprehensive plans for both utilities in one bill. You should probably pay for gas plus electricity an average price of 80 pounds per month.
• Council Tax: It’s an annual tax you pay for services provided by the city council in your area: garbage collection, street lights, cleaning, etc. The price you pay depends on the area where you live. There are several categories (A, B, C, D, etc.) so you should ask your owner which category you are in. In my case, in Hyde Park area in Leeds (university area) I used to pay around 800 pounds annually. In London, according with some Londiners I have talked to, you will have to pay at least 1000 pounds annually. You don’t need to pay this amount in one single payment and you can pay in monthly installments. But if you pay the full amount in one single payment, you will get a discount. You can also obtain a 25% discount if you are the only resident in your department or if all residents are students.

Optional services

You can live without them if you want to save around 50 pounds a month, but is almost sure you will want to count with them:

• Phone: British people are addicted to cell/mobile phones, so it’s more important that you count with a mobile rather than a standard line telephone. For those people that live or have lived in the US, be aware that in the UK, cell phones are called mobiles. The only reason to have a residential phone line is for Internet access. Broadband Internet access via cable modem is not very common in the UK, and ADSL is the more common type of access, for which you need to have a phone line, or BT line, as they call it. BT It’s worth mentioning that BT is the traditional phone company in the UK and actually was the only one for long time. For that reason, phone lines are often better known as BT lines. But now you can choose among other providers, so when you read you need BT line, not necessarily means that needs to be provided by BT. Prices? There are many plans but the cost of a basic contract with BT costs about 11 pounds a month and includes free calls to UK’s landlines on weekends and every day after 6p.m.
• Internet: There are several providers: Virgin, Sky, BT, O2, Vodafone, etc. Virgin and Sky are the only ones that currently offer cable modem services. But not all areas are covered. Generally you can find out if your area is covered inserting your post code in the provider web page. There are plenty of offers but let’s say that for 15 pounds a month you will have a good connection and if you contract with Virgin or Sky you could get an offer that includes free cable TV channels for a given period of time. Then you will have to pay for it separately.
• Television: By default, you will have access to the public channels (BBCs and ITVs), plus additional local channels. If you want more private channels you will have to contract a TV cable provider like Virgin or Sky (the most popular). But that's not all, in England you will have to pay a TV license. That means that the public channels are not completely free, since you they are maintained with this tax. You will have to pay around 10 pounds a month if you have color TV (a little bit less if you have a black and white one, but ... who has a black and white TV in these days?). No matter if watch TV or not, the mere fact of having a TV in your apartment makes you liable to license TV tax, even if you use it only to watch DVDs movies. So if you do not intend to use a TV at all, ask your landlord to remove it from your apartment. Believe it or not, TV license payment is very well monitored by the authorities and if you don’t pay, they will knock to your door soon with evidence that you have TV and you are not paying. England is probably one of the toughest countries in pursuit of taxes and penalties for people not paying.

As a conclusion of this long entry, the best source of information about prices and offers for a particular utility can be found in any price comparison site, very common in the UK, such as moneysupermarket.com. It’s a very useful site where you can select the utility you want to compare prices and submitting your zip code, it will return several prices, offers and providers in your area, even different offers from a single provider. You can also contract some offers directly online using this web page.

Leave us a comment if you would like more information about a particular utility.

Good luck with your cost of living estimation.

If you are looking for a place to rent in London you should know you are facing one of the most expensive places in the world. However, due to the pound devaluation during the past year, prices have become more affordable. In London, unless you are going to earn a more than 35000 pounds a year, forget about living alone in a modern one bedroom apartment located in zones 1 to 3. Don’t worry about carrying your furniture with you, since 90% of the apartments to rent are furnished and that doesn’t mean that you will have to pay a higher rent price. Renting a studio in London in zone 3 will not come down from 900 pounds per month. Don’t make the classical mistake many people make: be tempted to move miles away from London to save 100 pounds a month. Every day those people watch how their 100-pounds savings are highly outweighed by their spending on public transport, which is extremely expensive in London, even with the pound devaluation. Price is not the only drawback in the UK with properties. You will also have to deal with ancient properties, with little maintenance. You can pay 1000 pounds a month for rubbish flat in zone 3, with ceiling and wood floor almost broken. It isn’t worth to write about modern property prices, it will be enough to say that anyone who can afford those properties will not have any problem with money and probably won’t be reading these lines about cost of living in the UK (that’s not a problem for them).

If you are going to relocate to a city in England other than London, costs can be reduced significantly. In my case, I lived in Leeds in a two-room apartment, 20 minute walk from downtown (3 minutes walk to Universtity of Leeds) for only 525 pounds per month. The flat rental costs in northern England are considerably lower than in the south, especially in London. So, students considering universities outside London may consider this factor when choosing the University with best value for money for them. In northern UK, outside England, Scotland could be a beautiful choice and interesting experience, but you will have to support the cold weather.

Personally I think the success of Leeds as a university town is the value for money it offers to the students. You can make the experience of studying one or two years in the UK at half price of what it would do it in London. In addition, Leeds is a city prepared to have fun and enjoy the university life at its peak, without messing with the stress of costs and lifestyle of a big city like London. In addition, in smaller cities you can experience the real English culture, unlike London where the mixture of cultures has led to the loss of the British identity. It's a matter of looking at people on London streets, or children at schools to realize that 60% or more of the Londiners are not natives. Back to the rental costs matter, you can get a studio in Leeds city centre for 400 pounds. These rates are similar in Manchester and can be even cheaper in Sheffield. Manchester is one hour west far from Leeds by train and Sheffield¸ 50 minutes south.

If you have a tight budget, a very popular choice among students and young professionals is to rent a property with 5 or 6 rooms and share rental costs. If you do the abovce, you can get a private bedroom and share kitchen, bathroom and living room with your roommates for no more than 300 to 400 pounds per month per person. There are letting agencies devoted to this type of rents.

The best way to research prices in different areas is visiting specialized web pages like Rightmove and findaproperty. But be aware that you have to consider the rental price along with other costs that are part of the cost of living in the UK, such as council tax, water, electricity, gas, telephone, broadband internet access and TV license. Yes, you have read correctly, in the UK if you want to have a TV on your flat you have to PAY a tax (few things are free in this country). We will analyze these costs on the next post regarding utilities in the UK. We hope that these articles help you to calculate your particular cost of living in the United Kingdom (UK) as close as possible.

• Tesco: It is perhaps the largest and most popular chain in the UK. It has different kinds according to the
• store size: “extra” stores, "metro" stores, "express" stores. They are very popular in London in its small formats (“metro” and “express”). Among the small size stores is the one with the lowest prices and everyday has half-price products. For example, you can always find 4 or 5 wine brands at 50% of their price.

• Sainsbury's: Its most popular format are small supermarkets (local markets) but you may be able to find larger stores (supermarkets) outside from the populated areas. It is the one with the highest prices, but on the other side it has some better quality products not available in the other chains. It also offers discount products, but less convenient than Tesco. Popular in London, recommended for small purchases or when you need a product that is not available in other places. When you want to buy a lot of products (weekly/monthly purchase), is the less convenient in terms of value for money.

• Morrisons: Not very well known in London but very popular in medium and small UK cities like Leeds and Manchester. It has no small-size store format. Only big supermarkets, no “hiper” or “extra”. Cheaper than Tesco and Sainsbury's, is the most popular outside London. In London, you won’t find many of them because of their size. They need larger areas not available in the big city. It is a very good supermarket and the one that offers best value for money for general purchases. You can find very cheap products (usually Morrisons brand) but also quality brands for the most demanding public. As Tesco, you can always find discount products.

• ASDA: Is the British Walmart. It has only big-size hyper market formats away from very populated areas. For that reason, you may never see one in London. My friends that live in London were not aware about ASDA until I told them. It is the cheapest. Recommended only when you need to by a lot of things, because you will have to travel some miles away the city area. If you don’t have a car, we don’t recommend it since the money you can save will be useless because of spending in public transport. Anyway, you can go there a rainy Saturday/Sunday (very common in the UK) for a ride, as they are very large and will be a good entertainment for a gray day. Moreover, they are generally on big retail spaces where you'll find other shops and fast food restaurants like McDonald's, Subway, and the ASDA food space with healthier choices.

Once in the UK we recommend visiting all of them choose the one most like you. With more experience you will identify which chain is more suitable for certain products. But there is no doubt that Sainsbury's has higher prices but better quality.

In other posts we will continue writing about the cost of living in the United Kingdom (UK) with other topics you should take into account when considering a relocation to live and work. We will provide a useful guide with prices for property rentals, utilities and general items in the UK, making the difference between London and the rest of England.