Cost of living in Rome: how it really compares with London and the rest of the UK
Rome is a cheaper city than London on nearly everything, and transport is laughably cheap by comparison. The exception is rent in the centre, which has been rising fast and now rivals the UK average.
The short version
- Average asking rents in Rome were EUR 19.75 per m² a month in October 2026, up nearly 9% in a year [1]. A 70 m² flat at that rate costs about EUR 1,380 (about £1,150) a month.
- That's well under London's average private rent of £2,338 a month and below the UK average of £1,406 [2], but the centro storico and Trastevere cost far more.
- A monthly ATAC pass is EUR 35 (about £29) and an annual pass EUR 250 (about £208) [3], against £1,788 for a Zones 1–2 annual Travelcard in London [4].
- New arrivals from the UK who aren't covered by an S1 or the Withdrawal Agreement usually pay at least EUR 2,000 (about £1,670) a year to join the Italian health service voluntarily [5][6].
- Groceries and eating out are generally cheaper than in London, but quality, not price, is what most Brits notice.
Pound conversions use the Bank of England spot rate of 5 November 2026 (£1 = EUR 1.2002).
Rent: the big one
Rome's rents have climbed sharply, driven by short lets for tourists and a squeeze on long-term flats. Immobiliare.it's market data for October 2026 shows these average asking rents [1]:
| Area | Asking rent per m² a month | 70 m² flat a month | In pounds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rome average | EUR 19.75 | about EUR 1,380 | about £1,150 |
| Centro Storico | EUR 29.46 | about EUR 2,060 | about £1,720 |
| Testaccio and Trastevere | EUR 27.82 | about EUR 1,950 | about £1,620 |
| Prati, Borgo and Mazzini | EUR 25.24 | about EUR 1,770 | about £1,470 |
| Monteverde and Gianicolense | EUR 19.73 | about EUR 1,380 | about £1,150 |
| EUR and Torrino | EUR 16.94 | about EUR 1,190 | about £990 |
Source: Immobiliare.it, October 2026 [1]. The 70 m² sums are our multiplication of the per-m² figure; asking rents aren't what people end up paying, and furnished flats cost more.
How that compares back home, from the ONS for September 2026 [2]:
| Average monthly private rent | Annual change | |
|---|---|---|
| London | £2,338 | up 3.5% |
| England | £1,466 | up 4.0% |
| UK | £1,406 | up 3.8% |
| Rome (70 m², our estimate) | about £1,150 | asking rents up 8.8% [1] |
So a typical Roman flat costs about half London's average rent and somewhat less than the UK average, but Rome's rents are rising more than twice as fast. Bear in mind Italian flats are measured in m² and listings often quote the gross area, so a "70 m²" flat can feel smaller than you'd hope.
Buying? The Rome average asking price was EUR 3,895 per m² (about £3,245) in October 2026, up 6.5% in a year [1]. The average UK house price was £273,000 and London's about £554,000 in August 2026 [2]. Our guide to renting in Rome covers contracts and deposits.
Getting around: Rome wins by a mile
ATAC fares (Rome's buses, trams and metro) [3]:
| Ticket | Rome | In pounds |
|---|---|---|
| Single (BIT, 100 minutes) | EUR 1.50 | about £1.25 |
| 24-hour ticket | EUR 8.50 | about £7.10 |
| Monthly personal pass | EUR 35 | about £29 |
| Annual pass | EUR 250 | about £208 |
In London, a 7-day Travelcard for Zones 1–2 is £44.70, the daily cap for those zones is £8.90 and an annual Zones 1–2 Travelcard is £1,788, on fares in force since 1 March 2026 [4]. That makes Rome's annual pass about a ninth of London's. The catch, as every Roman will tell you, is reliability: buses that don't turn up and a metro network far smaller than the Tube. Plenty of Brits end up on a scooter. See driving in Italy and getting around Rome.
Healthcare: free, cheap or EUR 2,000
What you pay depends on who you are, and it's very different from walking into an NHS surgery back home.
- Withdrawal Agreement residents (in Italy before 2021) can register for free with the SSN, the Italian health service, under the compulsory registration route, and don't have to make voluntary contributions [6].
- UK State Pensioners with an S1 have their Italian healthcare paid for by the UK. See the NHS when you live abroad and the S1.
- Employees and the self-employed in Italy join the SSN through their contributions.
- Everyone else, such as people on an elective residence visa, pays to register voluntarily. Since 2024 the contribution is 7.5% of household income up to EUR 20,658.28 and 4% from there up to EUR 51,645.69, with a minimum of EUR 2,000 a year; registration runs by calendar year and can't be pro-rated [5].
On top of that come prescription and specialist charges (the ticket), and many Brits add private cover to skip waiting lists. Our guide to registering with the SSN has the detail.
The weekly shop and eating out
We haven't found an official like-for-like price comparison between Rome and London supermarkets, so here's what Brits in Rome generally find, in words rather than invented numbers:
- Fresh food is the bargain. Seasonal fruit and veg from a neighbourhood mercato such as Testaccio or Trionfale is usually cheaper and better than the supermarket equivalent back home.
- Branded and imported goods cost more. Your PG Tips, Marmite and cheddar will cost a premium; see British food, shops and pubs in Rome.
- Coffee is the great leveller. An espresso standing at the bar costs a small fraction of a London flat white. Sit down at a table near the Pantheon and the price jumps.
- Eating out is cheaper, especially a weekday lunch in a trattoria away from the tourist streets.
For context on prices back home, UK food and non-alcoholic drink prices rose 1.3% in the year to September 2026, while overall CPI inflation was 3.5% [7].
A rough monthly budget
Putting it together for one person in a 70 m² flat in a mid-priced area such as Monteverde:
| Item | Rome | In pounds | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rent (70 m², average asking rate) | about EUR 1,380 | about £1,150 | [1] |
| Monthly ATAC pass | EUR 35 | about £29 | [3] |
| Voluntary SSN, minimum, spread monthly | about EUR 167 | about £139 | [5] |
| Groceries, bills, eating out and phone | varies widely | varies | — |
Compared with renting in London and buying a Zones 1–2 Travelcard, the fixed costs alone come in at roughly half. Local salaries are often lower than London's, though, so if you're working locally rather than bringing a UK pension or salary, the sums can look less rosy. Remember Italian tax too: see Italian taxes for Brits.
For real-world budgets from Brits who've done the maths, try our community group for Brits in Italy.
Sources
- Immobiliare.it: Mercato immobiliare Roma (October 2026 data)
- ONS: Private rent and house prices, UK, October 2026 (released 21 October 2026)
- ATAC: Biglietti e abbonamenti
- ClearScore: How much does a Travelcard cost? (checked 5 October 2026, from TfL's fare tables of 1 March 2026)
- ASL Sassari: Contributi per l'iscrizione volontaria al SSN (March 2024, under Law 213/2023)
- GOV.UK (FCDO): Living in Italy (last updated 28 October 2026)
- ONS: Consumer price inflation, UK, September 2026 (released 21 October 2026)