These Are The Most (& Least) Affordable Places To Rent In London & The UK

Today brings good and bad news for Generation Rent – according to SpareRoom, average monthly room rents in the UK have fallen by 2% during the last three months.

However, this nationwide drop is driven by fairly dramatic rent reductions in London, where rooms are now 7% cheaper than they were three months ago.

Once London is taken out of the equation, average room rents in the UK have actually increased by 2% during this quarter. The average room rent in the UK is now £590 – down from £603 three months ago. In London it's £725, which is down from £777.

Outside of London, the most expensive room rents are found in traditional commuter towns such as Esher, Twickenham, Kingston upon Thames, Barnet and St. Albans (which is home to some of the highest salaries in the UK).

At the other end of the scale, the Northern Irish towns of Craigavon, Newtownabbey and Bangor are home to the most affordable rooms, though rents in the province are rising pretty fast – up 8% during this quarter.

Check out the most and least expensive parts of the UK below.

In London, the most affordable postcodes are mainly in southeast and northeast regions. As you'd expect, the least affordable postcodes are in traditionally fancy central and west London areas such as Chelsea, Holborn and Knightsbridge.

Most expensive of all is EC4, St Paul's, where the average monthly room rent is an eye-watering £1,316. Check out the most and least expensive parts of London below.

Some London postcodes have seen an especially sharp drop in average room rents: they're 20% down in W8 (Holland Park), 17% down in EC1 (Holborn) and 16% down in W10 (North Kensington) and SW8 (South Lambeth).

Discussing the drop in London rents generally, SpareRoom's Matt Hutchinson said: "Restrictions on moving home, the fact that people’s incomes have been negatively affected and a ‘flight from London’ to other areas of the UK are all likely to be factors."

"Another possible trend that could be putting downward pressure on London rents is a move away from areas with London Underground connections, which traditionally command a premium," he added.

"With ongoing working from home and coronavirus fears putting people off getting on the tube, people may be looking instead at areas on the overground. That would explain why rents are faring better in some areas of south east London.”