Revealed: 15 most expensive UK cities to raise a family - is yours on the list?
The 15 most expensive cities in which to raise a child have been named, with annual costs ranging from £44,692 up to a whopping £80,416.
Raising a family is an expensive endeavour, when you consider how much it costs to raise a child and rising average childcare costs. But it turns out that where you live can be a big influencing factor too.
The study from OutdoorToys looked at a range of costs, including the average costs of childcare, rent, utilities and broadband in different cities, in order to find out which locations were the most expensive to raise a family.
Most expensive UK cities to raise a family in
Unsurprisingly, the research found that London was the most expensive city to raise a family in, costing a sky-high £80,416 per year. This figure includes an average nursery place for two children costing just under £38,000 a year, average annual rent costing only slightly more at £38,650, as well as average annual utility bills of £3,661 per year.
Second place on the list went to Westminster, with annual costs of £59,757, more than £20,000 cheaper than in the City of London.
Cambridge ranked a very close third, with average annual nursery costs of around £8,000 more than rent.
Other cities that made the list of the top 15 most expensive cities to raise a family in, with annual costs between £58,390 and £44,692, include:
St Albans
Winchester
Oxford
Brighton & Hove
Southend-on-Sea
Bristol
York
Birmingham
Edinburgh
Manchester
Milton Keynes
Canterbury
Most expensive cities for childcare
London - £37,740
St Albans - £34,162
Cambridge - £32,430
Oxford - £30,300
Birmingham - £29,069
Most expensive cities for rent
London - £38,650
Westminster - £31,500
Winchester - £30,000
Oxford - £24,990
Brighton & Hove - £24,805
Most expensive cities for utility bills
London - £3,661
Canterbury - £3,461
Southend-on-Sea - £3,300
Milton Keynes - £2,824
Westminster - £2,778
Most affordable UK cities to raise a family in
The research also found the most affordable cities in which to raise a family, with annual costs ranging from £14,220 up to £36,969.
The top spot for most affordable city went to Derry in Northern Ireland, with average nursery costs of £4,554 per year, average rents of £7,626 per year, and average utility bills of £1,454 - less than half of the price families in London pay for their utilities.
Second place went to Wakefield, with average annual costs of £22,520, while in third place Doncaster it costs £27,518 per year to raise a family.
Other affordable cities that rounded out the list included:
Carlisle
Gloucester
Preston
Swansea
Stoke-on-Trent
Lancaster
Kingston upon Hull
Plymouth
Dundee
Leicester
Salford
Belfast
Cheapest cities for childcare
Derry - £4,554
Wakefield- £11,520
Preston - £12,000
Gloucester - £14,400
Swansea - £14,712
Cheapest cities for rent
Derry - £7,626
Doncaster - £7,901
Wakefield - £8,400
Kingston upon Hull - £8,715
Carlisle - £8,835
Cheapest cities for utility bills
Portsmouth - £1,424
Derry - £1,454
Belfast - £1,478
Carlisle - £1,560
Swansea - £1,593
If you've found that you live in one of the most expensive cities, then make sure you follow these family-friendly ways to save money, and think about how you can save money for your child's future.