Rip-off Britain: 7 things you pay more for in the UK

It's not just the weather that's rubbish – Brits are being fleeced for everything from iPads to broadband.

Living in Britain is a costly experience. We've found seven things that you'll end up shelling out more for here than in the rest of the world.

Electronics

Electronics – everything from TVs to security software – are generally more expensive in the UK.

Britain is the second most expensive place in the world to get the new iPhone 6s behind France. We will have to pay around £539, which is £118 more expensive than the USA (before tax).  

A weak euro means that buyers in France and Germany will be paying around £30 more for this latest version of the iPhone than last year’s model.

Some analysts have suggested that that people in the UK are just willing to pay the difference when it comes to electronic goods.

Travel

'Staycations', where you holiday in the UK rather than abroad, have grown ever more popular since the credit crunch. The theory is that they work out cheaper.

But trips in the UK and Ireland can cost far more than heading to the continent, according to research by VoucherBox.

One night in a UK hotel will cost £65.22 on average. But a night in a hotel in Portugal, for example, will only set you back £42.50.

And it's not like you save on the food here. The VoucherBox study found that we consider a £10 meal to be cheap, but in Turkey, Portugal and Croatia it can cost as little as £3.12 for a mighty main meal.

Childcare

The amount of money that parents in the UK shell out on childcare is incredible

According to a recent study by the Family and Childcare Trust, British parents spend a quarter of their income on childcare, which is more than any EU country. It costs around £115.45 a week to send a child under two to nursery part time (25 hours) or £104.06 to pay a childminder. For those aged two and over, the price increases to £109.83 for nursery and £103.04 for a childminder. 

In Austria and Hungary childcare takes up no more than 5% of annual income. Even the EU average sits below 15%.

Rent

If you rent your home, you're paying more than you would in Europe. 

We pay an average of £750 per household per month in rent, compared to the European average of £400. In Latvia, the average is a paltry £135 a month.

In the UK, renters spend almost 40% of their income on rent, compared to the European average of 28%.

Broadband

Phone and internet services can cost up 50% more in the UK than the standard price in Europe, according to a recent Guardian investigation.

An average BT customer with a landline and broadband deal is now paying £38 a month once their introductory deal has come to an end. But in France, the average customer is paying just £24 for a similar deal.

Make sure you are paying as little as possible for your deal by comparing packages over at broadbandchoices.co.uk.

Drink and cigarettes

According to the Post Office Worldwide Holiday Costs Barometer 2015 Brits pay a small fortune for alcohol, cigarettes, coffee and water compared to many areas of the world. 

The average pack of 20 cigarettes in the UK is nearly £8. But in Bali you could get those fags for less than £1.

The average cost of a pint of beer is around £3, but in Portugal you can get a pint for just 81p!

It's a similar story with coffee and water. A coffee in the UK is about £2.16 and a bottle of water is 90p. But you can get a cup of coffee in Gambia for only 55p, while a 1.5 litre bottle of mineral water from the supermarket in Beijing, China is only 17p.

Designer goods

Designer goods, such as handbags, are also cheaper abroad. The USA is a great source of cheap designer items which don’t have tax added on - a study a couple of years ago by the Post Office found that designer labels cost up to 60% less in the US than over here.

More on household spending:

Your face could cost you money

Exposed: Britain’s most loved and loathed firms

Brilliant bargain tablets that are almost as good as an iPad

The money lesson we can all learn from students