Social Media manager Sam Cookney, 30, wanted a more less expensive way of travelling to his office in near Liverpool Street station.
What he found was an unlikely solution: it would be more cost effective to relocate to the sun-kissed coast of North West Spain, more than 700 miles away.
Cheap alternative: Mr Cookney found the lack of
council tax charges and low rent in Barcelona, above, meant it is
cheaper to live there and fly to London
Expensive: London's council tax charges make the city more expensive than alternatives in Europe, Mr Cookney found
He arrived at the extraordinary solution by doing sums based on property and travel websites.
Cost of living - Monthly comparison
LONDON:
BARCELONA:
- One bed flat, West Hampstead - £1,505
- Council tax - £75
- Zone 1-2 travel card - £116,60
BARCELONA:
- Three bed flat, Les Corts, £580
- Council tax - £0
- Ryanair flight, metro - £778
He then added in council tax at approximately £75 and a zone 1-2 travelcard to get to his job in the City, which costs £116.80, making a total of £1,697.
Mr Cookney said: 'I chose West Hampstead because I know and like the area, and it doesn’t seem a stretch to suggest that a young professional may afford to live there'
He then compared the prices to Barcelona where a three-bedroom flat, with three balconies, a stone’s throw away from the metro, in the 'nice and safe' area of Les Corts which costs £580 per month.
Mr Cookney added, 'I used to live there, and being a fairly upmarket residential district, it’s a very decent and fair comparison to West Hampstead.
'There are, of course, cheaper flats, but I was trying to compare apples with apples – even in spite of the three bedrooms.'
With rent obviously cheaper, Mr Cookney then considered travel.
He found that he could fly back and forth from Barcelona to Stansted via Ryanair nearly every day in November for £29 a trip.
Jet set: He discovered that a four day commute
using Ryanair flights to get into London from Spain would work cut the
cost of living by £339 per-month
He added £5 to get to from Barcelona’s el Prat airport and a £14 return to Liverpool Street, making £19 in total on land travel each day.
That’s fixed commuting costs of £48 a day, 4 days a week, for 4 weeks a month, which worked out at £778
Add on rent of £580 a month and the cost of living in Barcelona and commuting to London comes to £1,358 a month.
That’s £339 less than the cost of living in London and commuting from Zone 2.
Add that to the fact that he could live in a sunny city by the sea, and Mr Cookney said his findings were 'beyond crazy'.
He said: 'I could walk to my desk by 9:30am, with time for a Pret coffee and bacon and cheese croissant en route'
'It's just beyond crazy, and completely unsustainable'.
Too much: Mr Cookney was forced into looking for
alternatives after he became sick of the sky high rent prices for
relatively small accommodation in north and west London
Pricey journey: He based his sums around a
commute from West Hampstead to Liverpool Street station, above, and a
similar trip from Barcelona
'I feel like it's reaching a tipping point. I've been discussing with friends this week, and several of us have said that we're going to have to consider leaving London. The sums just don't add up'
The only concession he had to make was that he could work from home for one day a week with flights of a weekend being far more pricey.
He said: 'I thought at least it would require some poetic licence or dodgy sums
'But the only assumption I’m making is that I work a four-day week in London, with a day at home (i.e. Barcelona).
i could die just be thinking how much work i have to do just to pay rent. i mean, it's through the roof!
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