Solo
€35,000 gross in Paris · 1-bed
£46,000–52,000
+63% vs the same gross converted (£29,995)
first editionThe corridor barometer
Edition of September 2026 · data as of 1 September 2026
Five indicators of the France ↔ UK corridor, recomputed every month from Veia’s own engines and official, dated sources — never a vibe, always a method.
Median rent (1-bed / 2-pièces)
London £2,150 ≈ €2,509
Paris €1,550
The same life, solo (gross / year)
London £48,962 ≈ €57,132
Paris €41,931
Regulatory entry ticket (3 years)
London £3,924 ≈ €4,579
Paris €299–399
Each row is its own comparison: bars carry the ratio, labels carry the values — euros at this month’s rate.
Exchange rate
first edition€1 = £0.857
A €60,000 gross salary converts to £4,285 per month this month.
Mid-market EUR/GBP rate on 1 September 2026 — the same feed the Veia app uses. The €60,000 reference never changes, so the movement you see is the currency, nothing else.
Rent gap
first edition+62%
Median rent across our 22 London zones: £2,150 (≈ €2,509). Across our 29 Paris zones: €1,550.
Medians of Veia’s zone tables — 29 Paris zones (1-bed / 2-pièces ≈ 40 m², arrondissements + inner suburbs) and 22 London zones (1-bed) — market medians 2026, last checked August 2026. This compares the zones Veia covers, not the entire cities.
Maintenance salary
The gross salary to aim for in London to keep the lifestyle these three fixed profiles have in Paris. Same profiles every month — what moves is the market.
Solo
Dual-income couple
€90,000 combined gross in Paris · 2-bed
£62,000–70,500
household total, two equal salaries
−14% vs the same gross converted (£77,130)
first editionFamily, one child (age 4)
€75,000 combined gross in Paris · 3-bed
£83,000–94,000
household total, two equal salaries
+37% vs the same gross converted (£64,275)
first editionMethod: each profile rents at the median of our zones (scaled by bedrooms), keeps the same basket of daily life (4 restaurants + 3 nights out a month, 4 return trips a year), and we compute the gross that funds it — UK tax 2025/26 and French tax 2026 (revenus 2025) (checked July 2026), living-cost basket 2026 (checked June 2026). Savings excluded: this measures maintaining, not building. Ranges, never false precision.
Regulatory cost of entry
first edition£3,924
Skilled Worker visa, 3 years, applying from outside the UK: £819 fee + £3,105 health surcharge (IHS, £1,035/year). Over 5 years: £6,793.
Plus £1,270 of funds to evidence unless your employer certifies maintenance. This applies if you need a visa — your nationality, not your current country, decides; EU–UK moves since 2021 usually do.
GOV.UK fee schedule, verified 25 June 2026.
Regulatory weather
- Partner-visa income threshold: still £29,000. The June 2025 MAC review recommended £23-25,000, but no Home Office decision as of 28 August — couples should plan on the current rule.
- Partner-visa English: the move from A1 to B2 at entry is still slated for 26 March 2027. If your level is borderline, applying before that date changes your preparation cost.
- Family-visa fees: the 8 April 2026 schedule is unchanged (£2,064 from outside the UK). On the Skilled Worker side, no fee or IHS movement this month.
Sourced from this month’s reviews of our France ↔ UK guides — qualitative by design, every figure lives in a dated guide.
The return direction
London → Paris · first editionThe corridor runs both ways. For a move back to Paris — or a first French chapter — the question is never “the same numbers, mirrored”: it is what you can accept, what your rent becomes, and what the door costs.
The sustainable pay cut
French salaries look frightening from London. Here is how far the fear is unfounded: the SAME basket of life (indicator 03), priced on both sides.
Solo
£46,000–52,000 gross in London → €39,000–44,500 gross in Paris
-27 %
Monthly net funding it: £3,231 there · €2,562 here
-27% gross, same lifeDual-income couple
£62,000–70,500 gross in London → €55,000–62,500 gross in Paris
-24 %
household total, two equal salaries
Monthly net funding it: £4,567 there · €3,652 here
-24% gross, same lifeFamily, one child (age 4)
£83,000–94,000 gross in London → €71,000–80,500 gross in Paris
-27 %
household total, two equal salaries
Monthly net funding it: £5,889 there · €4,695 here
-27% gross, same lifeWhat your rent becomes
The median London 1-bed (£2,150 ≈ €2,509) covers a median Paris 2-pièces (€1,550) and frees up ≈ €959 a month — €11,508 a year, before you even negotiate.
The entry ticket, depending on who you are
- Returning French citizen: €0 — no visa, by definition.
- British citizen (work): €99 long-stay visa + €200–300 validation tax ≈ €299–399 all in.
- And €0 of health surcharge: France has no equivalent of the UK's IHS (£3,105 over 3 years) — state coverage comes with stable residence.
France-Visas / CESEDA (2026 finance law) — verified 1 September 2026. The validation tax is published as a range while the post-May 2026 per-category schedule consolidates; we refuse false precision.
Return-direction watch
- Long-stay visa validation tax (ANEF): raised by the finance law on 1 May 2026 — budget €200–300 depending on category, on top of the €99 visa fee. A returning French citizen still pays nothing: no visa at all.
- Rental file without French history: the Visale guarantee (Action Logement) remains free and covers up to 36 months of unpaid rent — the argument that reassures a landlord when you arrive from London.
Same engines, same basket, same month as indicator 03 — priced in Paris instead of London. The pay-cut figure compares the Paris gross to the London gross of the same basket at this month's rate. Series opened with this edition.
Convert my lifestyle for London
What salary keeps your lifestyle? A clear range, in 2 minutes.