What things are cheaper in less expensive areas?

[Brunaaa]

Aside from the obvious things like housing, council tax, eating and drinking out(?), what other things are cheaper in less expensive areas of the UK than the South East?

Are groceries cheaper? Train fares? Water electricity and gas bills?

I've only ever lived in London and the South East, so I'd be interested to see how the house of living compares!

It does also depend on the balance of supply and demand. Labour (tradesmen, hairdressers etc) are generally cheaper outside London and the SE. I have found restaurants and food less so. If you go to a tourist area like the south west things that tourists use (e.g. restaurants) will be relatively expensive whereas things that are only used by locals (i.e. lower demand) such as hairdressers will be relatively cheap.

@WorriedMillie

I live similarly. One town (nearer) has Waitrose, M and S, mint velvet etc indie cafes and boutiques

Another town (slightly further away) has primark, Asda, next, wilkos etc. Even the parking is about half the price! (In non covid times I would more often frequent the cheaper option but try to go less often as not quite as convenient)

And the second town also has the MN favourite B and M bargains!

@Exhausteddog I moved from Luton in 2017, car parking for a day ticket (peak) was £5.10, weekly as I mentioned earlier. My local station is £12 a day in the NW.

@ChrissyPlummer

Wow that's a massive amount yo add to the cost if a train ticket!

Council tax costs more and most things costs the same

As a reverse, in laws live in Yorkshire (FIL is the tightest man in the world, would squeeze a penny til it squeaked). DH and I lived in Tunbridge Wells.

FIL was DEVASTATED to hear that our council tax was cheaper than his, he was absolutely furious. Went on about it for weeks. Was highly amusing...

@Ifailed

I would love London's heavily subsidised public transport system

In normal times it's self-funding, including paying for capital investments like Cross Rail.
It's a myth pedalled by other areas of the country who can't seem to organise their own travel system, so claim London's is subsidised.

No, it's very much not a myth

tfl.gov.uk/corporate/about-tfl/how-we-work/how-we-are-funded#:~:text=Grants%20(including%20Crossrail%20funding)%20make,to%20us%20from%20the%20GLA.

@Exhausteddog yes it is! There are some cheaper car parks nearby but the station one is open for first/last trains whereas the others aren’t. They do have signs saying you can enquire about season prices but it’s still a lot. That’s what the article I referred to was about - it compared average wages in the area to car parking and commuting costs. So, in Surrey you were more likely to be earning a good salary, compared to South Yorkshire but the cost of commuting and parking was more expensive relative to wages in poorer areas (generally speaking, there will be some exceptions).