In general, the pace of living in Wales is slower than in England and the cost of living is lower. This is great for those looking for a quieter and less expensive area to live in compared to places like Manchester and London.
Compare My Move’s data displays that there has been a 27.9% increase in people moving from England to Wales between 2020 and 2022. We’ve done some research into why this is, the benefits of moving from England to Wales and all of the factors that need to be taken into account when doing so.
We asked Compare My Move customers why they chose to make the move. The most common reasons were:
The top reason for English residents moving to Wales is a lifestyle choice, this could be people looking for a quieter life, as the population of Wales is 3.1 million, while the population of England is over 57 million – this could also explain the reason in which people are moving to Wales for retirement, which is the third most popular reason.
Where are people moving to?
We’ve put together a table of the percentage of people who have moved from England in 2022 and some of the most popular places they’ve moved to. With the highest number of movers from England finding a place in the capital.
Cardiff is the most popular choice for people moving from England, a lot of this is likely due to the transport links that the Welsh capital has to England, meaning that those who want to move to Wales but need to keep a job in England can do so with ease.
Property prices
With a smaller population of 3.1 million, Wales is generally less crowded. Competition for houses tends to be lower than in popular areas of England, therefore property prices are lower.
The average home in Wales costs £212,834. In England, the price of the average property is £92,897 higher than this at £305,731.
The average rental cost in Wales is £828 according to HomeLet. Rent in the rest of the UK is £1,229 on average. This includes inflated London prices. If you’re moving to Cardiff from London, you will notice a significant decrease in property and rental costs.
Some areas are more expensive than others, according to research done by Wales Online, Monmouthshire tops the list with an average property price of £363,949, followed by the Vale of Glamorgan at £315,019. However, these are the only two areas that have an average house price higher than the average in England, with Cardiff’s average house price being £267,573, almost £40,000 cheaper than the average house price in England.
Cost of living
The average annual salary in Wales is lower than in England at £23,996 and £26,192 respectively. However, the cost of living in Wales is 32% less expensive compared to England. The average living cost in Wales is around £1081 a month, while England’s is around £1424.
It must be noted that both the salary and the cost of living in England is skewed by the London living wage, as people who work in London are often paid more than outside of London, due to this London has its own sub-economy in which prices and wages are higher.
David Sayce, Co-Founder of Compare My Move said, “People are feeling the squeeze with the cost of living, and the rising inflation rates over the past few years, so it makes sense that people are looking for places to move with money on the mind – and Wales fits the bill perfectly, lower property prices and lower cost of living are going to continue to drive English movers to Wales consistently as they have been since 2020.
However, I also predict that the more English movers that do move to Wales for the cost of living purposes, the higher the cost of living will rise in Wales, levelling out with England sometime in the near future.”
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