Those flats you viewed looked pretty rough - your current one is so much nicer. I would imagine that with council tax and basic bills you would be easily paying over 2000 pounds per month. That is just an insane amount of money for a relatively small and shabby space (albeit in a great area). Paying that much in rent I would definitely consider buying your own place and putting that money towards mortgage payments instead of in a landlord's pocket. With hybrid / remote working there is no real reason why a place on the outskirts of London or even outside of London would not work well for you. BTW if I had to choose out of the three flats you showed I think I would choose the first one - with the classic Belsize Park street view. The one with a view over Hampstead tube station I would find kind of hard to relax in / too hectic and as for the third one in St Johns Wood - the building made me feel uneasy - it had a council estate/ tower of terror vibe to it.