Is the UK really Europe's worst place to live?

Thursday, 29 September 2011 4:18 PM

Stuttering house prices and the rising cost of living are just two factors that affect our quality of life. A new uSwitch.com report rates UK as behind the rest of our EU neighbours, with Britain deemed to the ‘the worst place to live in Europe’.

The Quality of Life index examined 16 factors to determine quality of life, including net income, VAT and the cost of essential goods, such as fuel, food and energy bills, as well as lifestyle factors such as hours of sunshine, holiday entitlement, working hours and life expectancy.

France and Spain come out on top, according to the life satisfaction poll. No wonder one in 10 people surveyed by uSwitch.com said that they are seriously considering emigrating.

Ann Robinson, Director of Consumer Policy at uSwitch.com, said: "Last year at least our neighbours in Ireland were worse off, now we can't even console ourselves with that. We are now officially at the bottom of the pile.

“We may still be enjoying the fourth highest household income in Europe, but the high cost of living means that we're living to work.” 

Energy debt is on the rise.

Energy debt sees 4 million in the red

Home energy debt is affecting almost four million households in the UK according to figures out today. Research from uSwitch.com shows that debt owed to energy supply companies has hit the £478 million mark.

Canterbury was the UK's most popular town

Cost of living 'causes buyers to shun big cities'

Movers in the UK are deserting major cities, opting for cheaper suburbs or country locations, according to new figures from Reallymoving.com. As inflation drives up the cost of living, more people are looking to cheaper towns.
Interest rates remain unchanged for now

Interest rates remain unchanged

The Bank of England have announced that they decided to leave the interest rate at 0.5% for the time being - bringing relief to homeowners already struggling with a rising cost of living, inflation and unchanged pay packets during the credit crunch.

 Energy bills could become unaffordable.

Rising energy bills expected to out-price household budgets

Household energy bills could be unaffordable in less than three years time, according to new research. Price comparison website uSwitch has used current trends to forecast the cost of energy by 2015 and the outlook is bleak.

Scotland mortgages ranked by affordability

'Look to Scotland for affordable housing'

Scotland has some of the most affordable housing the UK, especially for first-time buyers. New figures show that mortgage payments for a new borrower in Scotland during the end of 2011 were at their lowest as a proportion of earnings for nine years.

 Don't use a payday loan to pay your mortgage

Payday loans lead to debt spiral, warns Shelter

High-interest ‘payday’ loans are being taken out by desperate Brits to pay essential house bills. Almost one million people have taken out a payday loan to help pay their rent or mortgage in the last 12 months, according to a report from Shelter.
What to do if you have energy debts.

What to do if you fall behind on bills.

More households are falling into energy debt according to research from Consumer Focus. Four in every ten people had higher energy bills for winter despite the mild conditions as price cuts came into effect too late to save household’s money.

Since 2007 UK house prices have dropped by one third.

UK property price drop worst than Europe

UK property prices suffered dramatically in comparison to the European markets in the past five years. According to the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) the overall UK market last year imitated the European figures.

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Two-tier housing market for Wales

Wales' house prices are held up by the high-end market.

The Welsh housing market has split into two groups creating a high-end market where prices are going well and a poor performing bottom end of the market. According to LSL/Acadametrics’ Wales house price index overall prices are up by 2.4 per cent on last year.

Interest Rates sit tight again

Interest rates remain 0.5 per cent.

The Bank of England has again given homeowners a reason to celebrate choosing to leave interest rates at 0.5 per cent. The respite for home owners was no surprise with the bank of England holding rates for the past three years.

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