We all know that money can’t buy you happiness. What money can do, however, is make living alone in London a whole lot easier. For many of us in the capital city, the prospect of renting our very own apartment is a pretty darn unattainable one. And instead, we’ve had to dive headfirst into the murky waters of London’s flat-share scene. But how much would you need to be earning in order to comfortably rent alone in the city? And is it realistically achievable for the average Londoner? Well folks, The Economist has kindly worked it all out for us, and the short answer is… no. But when have I ever just given you the short answer?
The Economist’s ‘Carrie Bradshaw Index’
Each and every year, the prestigious publication releases its ‘Carrie Bradshaw Index’; a report (named in honour of everybody’s favourite solo city-dweller) that reveals the apartment-affordability of many major cities. The index originally only focused on American cities, but this year is the second time that The Economist has delved into the data for Europe, too.
28 cities across Europe were put under the metaphorical microscope for the occasion, and each of them were given a ‘Bradshaw Score’. The scores were calculated by dividing a city’s average wage (as estimated by the Economic Research Institute) by how much a tenant would need to be earning so as not to be spending over 30% of their income on the city’s average rent (according to Eurostat). Any city with a score of less that 1 was considered ‘unaffordable’. And – you guessed it, folks – London’s score was sub-par, to say the least.
London’s ‘Bradshaw Score’
London earned itself a rather meagre score of just 0.68. The average annual salary in the capital city is £55,530, whilst the average one bedroom flat in London costs £2,000 per month. This means that a London earning an average salary would be spending 44% of it on their rent. To stay within the 30% afforability sweet spot, a Londoner would need to be earning £81,800 per year.
According to the index, London certainly wasn’t the least affordable city for solo renting. Tbilisi, Prague, Belgrade, Budapest, Lisbon, Sofia, Stockholm and Riga all earned themselves a lower ‘Bradshaw Score’ than London. The most affordable city in Europe was Bonn in Germany, with a fairly impressive score of 1.33.
You can peruse The Economist’s full ‘Carrie Bradshaw Index’ here.