This Is Now The Average Room Rent In London

The average room rent in London is now higher than before the pandemic, according to the latest figures from SpareRoom.

As of March 2022, the monthly average in the capital is £796. That's a rise of 13% on this time last year, when it was £703.

The only UK region where room rents have risen faster year-on-year is Northern Ireland, where they're up 14% to £424. In Scotland and Wales, they're up 11% and 10% respectively. Across the UK as a whole, they're up 4%.

The increase in London rents is being fuelled by a worrying lack of rooms available. According to SpareRoom, supply is down by 53% year-on-year: the biggest drop across all UK regions.

The rise in London rents is most pronounced in some of the city's most expensive neighbourhoods. In W1, a postcode that covers Soho and the West End, rents are up a massive 33% year-on-year. In NW8 (St John's Wood) and SW1 (Westminster, Belgravia and Pimlico), they're up 31%.

"London saw rents drop by unprecedented amounts over the course of the pandemic," said SpareRoom's Matt Hutchinson. "However, with demand increasing at the end of 2021, and continuing to grow at the start of 2022, we're seeing those rents rise again, in some cases by significant amounts. That's going to hit renters hard."

The rise comes at time when housing is less affordable than ever, especially for young women whose finances have been hit hard by the pandemic.

"Almost a third of Londoners already spend over half their take home pay on rent," Hutchinson added. "With a cost of living crisis ramping up as we speak, and set to deepen over the coming months, many renters will be worried about making ends meet." 

An earlier SpareRoom report, from last October, revealed that the cheapest London postcodes are generally in southeast and northeast suburbs. SE2, a postcode that covers Abbey Wood and adjacent neighbourhoods, was most affordable of all with an average of £563.