London: Pretty, but expensive.

Poll: Most Londoners want to leave

Poll: Most Londoners want to leave

By politics.co.uk staff

Just over half of Londoners would prefer to live outside the capital, a surprising new survey from YouGov revealed today.

The poll found 52% of Londoners would rather live in a different region of the UK.  Fifty-one per cent said you can only really enjoy living in London if you're rich.

“Some may find it surprising that there is such negativity towards London from many of those who live in the capital, particularly coming so soon after the success of the Olympics," said YouGov director of political and social research Joe Twyman.

"However, it is clear that the cost of living is playing on the minds of many, with nearly two thirds of Londoners describing the city as 'expensive'."

Asked to choose three from a list of terms describing what life in London is like, the highest proportion of respondents (65%) chose 'expensive', followed by 'busy' (43%) and 'varied' (23%).

In contrast, a concurrent poll of Brits living outside London found the top three terms non-Londoners say best describe where they live are 'friendly' (33%), 'beautiful' (28%), and 'expensive' (25%).