{"id":1163,"date":"2025-06-12T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-12T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.vecimasupport.com\/?p=1163"},"modified":"2025-06-17T00:20:26","modified_gmt":"2025-06-17T00:20:26","slug":"this-is-how-much-more-single-people-pay-to-live-alone-in-london","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.vecimasupport.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/12\/this-is-how-much-more-single-people-pay-to-live-alone-in-london\/","title":{"rendered":"This is how much more single people pay to live alone in London"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n\t\t\"A\t<\/div>
Ever heard of the Singles Tax? (Picture: Getty\/Metro.co.uk)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

From council tax<\/a> to the weekly shop<\/a>, the financial burden of living alone as a single person<\/a> can really take a toll.<\/p>\n

But now, new figures have confirmed the true scale of the so-called \u2018singles tax\u2019.<\/p>\n

This term refers to the additional costs someone faces when they can’t split them with a partner, having to shoulder the rent or mortgage<\/a>, household bills, and everything else by themselves.<\/p>\n

In 2025, food alone as a single person denotes an extra spend of up to \u00a31,600, which is pretty shocking.<\/p>\n

For those renting solo in London though, it’s especially difficult, with the annual singles tax meaning a whopping \u00a319,152 more spent on housing alone.<\/p>\n

\n

\n\t\t\t\tReady to start your homebuying journey?\t\t\t<\/h2>\n
\n

You can access completely fee-free mortgage advice with London & Country (L&C) Mortgages, a partner of Metro. Customers benefit from:<\/p>\n

\u2013 Award winning service from the UK\u2019s leading mortgage broker<\/p>\n

\u2013 Expert advisors on hand 7 days a week<\/p>\n

\u2013 Access to 1000s of mortgage deals from across the market<\/p>\n

Unlike many mortgage brokers, L&C won’t charge you a fee for their advice.<\/p>\n

Find out how much you could borrow online<\/a><\/p>\n

Mortgage service provided by London & Country Mortgages (L&C), which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (registered number: 143002). The FCA does not regulate most Buy to Let mortgages. Your home or property may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Incorporating other lifestyle costs \u2013 like not splitting a food shop or a hotel room at a wedding \u2013 increases the statistic, from UK Debt Expert<\/a>, to \u00a320,565.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Oxford isn\u2019t much better either; the tax for renting alone here comes in at \u00a313,071, rising to \u00a314,368 when considering other costs that smug, coupled-up friends can save on.<\/p>\n

Up in Edinburgh, things are marginally better at \u00a311,393, while the figure for Cambridge sits at \u00a311,192, followed by Crawley at \u00a311,179.<\/p>\n

All in all, this reveals the stark reality that this is all money single people lose out on purely because they’re not in a relationship.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, without a major societal shift, singledom likely won\u2019t be getting cheaper any time soon. However, there are a couple of ways you can save while living alone.<\/p>\n

How to save money while living alone as a single person<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Firstly, you\u2019ll want to take advantage of the council tax discount. Local authorities bill as though at least <\/em>two people share each home together \u2013 but if you\u2019re living alone, who\u2019s picking up the other half? For this reason, single-person households in England, Scotland and Wales are entitled to a 25% discount<\/a>. <\/p>\n

This might not scratch the surface of how expensive solo living can be \u2013 and arguably, the discount should be 50% \u2013 but it\u2019ll shave a few pennies off.<\/p>\n

While a 12,000-strong petition<\/a> was presented to the UK government under Rishi Sunak in February 2024 asking for the discount to be increased, these suggestions were squashed \u2013 and Keir Starmer sadly hasn\u2019t shown any signs of taking it on.<\/p>\n

Over on the r\/Frugal<\/a> Subreddit, single people shared other tips they swear by for keeping costs down.<\/p>\n

One user, @Roots_on_up, recommended buying food in large quantities, batch-cooking, and making sure to save some for the freezer, explaining: \u2018It’s cheap and if you have food on hand, you won’t be tempted to go out as much’.<\/p>\n

Another solo saver, @outspokentrauma, learned to make the most of being home alone by ‘keeping lights off and the AC\/heat low’, while @Sunny_and_lucky88 suggested ‘looking into other income streams’ like evening shift work and side hustles.<\/p>\n

‘If you don\u2019t have any dependents, now is the time to earn!’ they added.<\/p>\n

\n

\n\t\t\t\tThe cheapest city for single people in the UK\t\t\t<\/h2>\n
\n

If you\u2019re in the market to buy and want to stretch your money a little further, the most affordable UK city for single people<\/a> has been named \u2013 and it\u2019s Aberdeen.<\/p>\n

Here, data shows that the median value between a one and two-bedroom home is \u00a3119,350, while the median monthly pay (gross) is \u00a33,280, as of November 2024.<\/p>\n

Monthly mortgage repayments were placed at \u00a3510 per month in accordance with the average deposit in the region, giving an annual value-to-earnings ratio of 3.0 \u2013 which isn\u2019t too shabby.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s not just Aberdeen that\u2019s increasingly affordable for singles: in England, the vibrant city of Liverpool is the place to be (and second on the list across Britain overall).<\/p>\n

The median value of a 1-2 bedroom home might be slightly more expensive than Scotland\u2019s Silver City at \u00a3130,800, but as per Zoopla\u2019s figures, the typical monthly pay here is \u00a32,980. Assuming mortgage repayments of \u00a3540 per month, this gives it an overall score of 3.7.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Do you have a story to share?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Get in touch by emailing MetroLifestyleTeam@Metro.co.uk<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ever heard of the Singles Tax? (Picture: Getty\/Metro.co.uk) From council tax to the weekly shop, the financial burden of living alone as a single person can really take a toll. But now, new figures have confirmed the true scale of the so-called \u2018singles tax\u2019. This term refers to the additional costs someone faces when they […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1165,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vecimasupport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1163"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vecimasupport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vecimasupport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vecimasupport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vecimasupport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1163"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.vecimasupport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1163\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1166,"href":"http:\/\/www.vecimasupport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1163\/revisions\/1166"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vecimasupport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1165"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vecimasupport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vecimasupport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vecimasupport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}