Bristol is the go-to city for Londoners moving to the south west. That’s according to a report by Compare My Move, which has revealed that close to one in five Londoners on the move choose Bristol as their new home.
The property removals and survey company said: “Bristol is the front-running city that Londoners are moving to. Our data has found that 15% of all Londoners moving to the south west move to Bristol, making it the most popular city Londoners move to in the UK.”
The firm said the primary reasons people chose Bristol were buying or renting property that were less expensive, the general cost of living and the more relaxed lifestyle, but with all the amenities of a city.
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The report said: “Cost factors are often the deciding factors when people are deciding where to live. When it comes to the property market, costs are significantly lower than in London. Bristol has a quieter pace of life while still having plenty of things to do. It’s the perfect place for Londoners looking for a balance of both.”
Second on the list of 50 places to move to was Manchester, followed by Reading and then Birmingham in fourth place. Swindon came in at 49th and Southend-On-Sea took the last spot.
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The average house price in Bristol according to the UK House Price Index is £365,775 while the average price in London is £533,986. The best places to live in Bristol according to Compare My Move, were Redland, Redcliffe, Stokes Croft and Stoke Bishop and the most expensive included Clifton, Sneyd Park and Failand.
According to Talent.com, the average salary in Bristol is £35,000 and the most common job sectors are the health and labour industries, although there are a wide variety of jobs available. The most common roles in London include finance and banking and the public sector and the average salary in the corporate sector is £43,043.
Compare My Move highlighted cost of living examples which remain below that of London. Topping this list was public transport at £83.80 per month compared to £160 in London. In second place were basic utilities costing on average £228.80 in Bristol and £305.58 in London.
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On education, the report found that both cities were similar. There are many high-performing schools in both cities and Bristol has two universities and several colleges. In comparison London has 18 universities. The most prestigious universities in the capital include King’s College London and the University College of London.
Overall, Bristol was regarded as a safer place to live and has more open green spaces. Since the pandemic - which sparked a general exodus out of the cities with work from home policies - Bristol was also regarded as having good travel links to London with a 90-minute train journey from Temple Meads Station to Paddington Station.
Meanwhile, in an analysis released last week by chartered surveyors Stokemont, Bristol was listed as the most expensive city to live for a single person outside of London. While previous studies have listed places such as Edinburgh and Oxford coming in behind London, Bristol took second place with Edinburgh third.
The reasons for the high costs in Bristol were students and workers returning to the city after an imbalance in housing demand-to-supply ratio caused by Covid. This return has led to higher rental costs, according to a spokesman from Stokemont.
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