London has a reputation as the financial hub of Europe - but according to a new survey it's not having trouble retaining workers AND attracting them. With an affordable housing crisis, and rising living costs - people are being turned off by the stress of big city life. Reuters reporter Katie Gregory has more on what is causing this - and the impact it could have on London's prosperity.

At the London School of Economics - future members of the UK workforce are studying hard. But all this study doesn't necessarily mean they'll be able to afford to stay living in London once school's out.

ANNE PAULINE, PHILOSOPHY STUDENT LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS "I think it's the most expensive city to live in. But if you're lucky you can find decent housing for a decent price."

NADIA BATTIOUI, SOCIAL POLICY MASTERS STUDENT LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS "If I can't get a job immediately, then I wouldn't be able to afford to live there."

MOLLY DELANEY, SOCIAL POLICY MASTERS STUDENT LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS "The British government has tried to introduce things like getting rid of the stamp duty and things like that. But I think it doesn't really solve the issue of rents just being so high."

On top of that - transport expenses - AND the stress of city life are the main reasons people are turning away from the big lights of London.

KEELY WOODLEY, ADVISORY PARTNER GRANT THORNTON "If we don't attract young people into London then quite simply we won't have the talent necessary to drive our economy forward and I think the London economy actually produces a disproportionate amount of GDP for the UK, so from a London perspective we need to keep attracting those young people."

But it's not just young people being put off by London's living costs.

A recent survey of Londoners by professional services network - Grant Thornton - found 6.2 percent are planning to leave in the next year.

Professor Tony Travers from the London School of Economics believes the key to attracting people to London and retaining them - lies in fixing the housing crisis.

PROFESSOR TONY TRAVERS, DEPARTMENT OF GOVERNMENT LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS "As of today London is still generating large numbers of new jobs, over 40 percent of all the jobs created in the UK in the last year were created in London, net. So it's still very successful but it's got to be able to house people in the city and not have them commuting an hour and a half to work each day. That would not be good."

According to the London Mayor's office - the average rent across much of the centre of London is now over 2,890 US dollars a month.

In Manchester - the home.co.uk site says it's only 1,400 US dollars a month. Journalist Ciara Lee used to live in an apartment with her husband in central London - but five years ago the couple decided to invest in a houseboat and move out of the city.

CIARA LEE JOURNALIST "I think having that space - we have a toddler and having a garden with our mooring is amazing and you wouldn't really get that in London. It's so hard to find land and let alone a house with a good sized garden."

She still commutes into London during the week- which takes around four hours.

KATIE GREGORY REUTERS REPORTER "The London Mayor's office says they are trying to prevent hard-working people from being priced out of the city."

NADIA BATTIOUI,SOCIAL POLICY MASTERS STUDENT LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS "If I ever, for instance, wanted to settle down in London or buy a property, then I need to marry a banker."

For governments at both local and national level - the focus is- build affordable houses and they will come.

And it seems the reputation and prosperity of London is really starting to depend on it.