Though London is expensive, and residents believe things are getting worse in the capital, there is little appetite to leave the city

Almost two thirds (60 per cent) of Londoners picked out the word ‘expensive’ as one of the best descriptors of the city, with almost twice the number of people picking this as the next most popular option of ‘diverse’. [...] The figure below shows that a sizeable majority of Londoners feel housing, crime (in general), and the NHS and other public health services have got worse in London over the past 12 months and that a significant minority also feel public transport, the environment, and schools and education have got worse in the capital over the same period. [...] The largest flows of movement out of the capital we identified would be to the South East and East of England (with 33 per cent of all those who say they likely won’t be in London in five years likely to relocate here) and to outside the UK (with 8 per cent to a European country, and 14 per cent to a country in the rest of the world). [...] The fact that a third of those who suggest they may leave the capital in the next five years would be likely to relocate to the two government office regions geographically contiguous with London (South East and East of 3 The Mile End Institute Monday, 11 March 2024 England) may suggest that they plan to continue working in the capital (assuming they do so already), and to commute from their new r. [...] We also found that Londoners value the diversity of the city’s population and culture, the fact that they feel like there is always something going on, and the job market/employment opportunities offered in the capital.