SpareRoom Rental Index
UK rental market is slowly rebalancing
UK rents as a whole were up 4% year-on-year in Q3, which is the smallest YOY increase of 2024 so far. However, the average monthly room rent has increased for the first quarter this year, from £740 (Q1, Q2) to £745 which isn't a surprise as Q3 is typically the busiest time for the rental market.
London rents have fallen for their third consecutive quarter in 2024. Although rents are up year-on-year by 1%, they’re now starting to decrease overall.
UK rental hikes are slowing
The largest regional YOY increases were seen in Northern Ireland (up 8%), followed by East Anglia (6%).
| Region | Average monthly room rent Q3 2024 | Average monthly room rent Q3 2023 | Annual change Q3 2024 vs Q3 2023 |
| East Anglia | £671 | £631 | 6% |
| East Midlands | £565 | £551 | 3% |
| North East | £550 | £528 | 4% |
| North West | £604 | £567 | 6% |
| Northern Ireland | £573 | £529 | 8% |
| Scotland | £716 | £685 | 4% |
| South East | £741 | £711 | 4% |
| South West | £664 | £632 | 5% |
| Wales | £572 | £556 | 3% |
| West Midlands | £560 | £537 | 4% |
| Yorkshire and Humberside | £556 | £542 | 3% |
| London | £995 | £989 | 1% |
| UK | £745 | £720 | 4% |
| UK (excl London) | £660 | £630 | 5% |
London rental increases fall for three consecutive quarters
The UK saw rents increase by 4% YOY, meanwhile London rents were up 1%. East Central saw the biggest increase in rents YOY out of all the London regions (4%), while North and West Central saw no change (0%). South West showed the only decrease (-1%) of all regions.
| London regions | Average monthly room rent Q3 2024 | Average monthly room rent Q3 2023 | Annual change Q3 2024 vs Q3 2023 |
| E | £961 | £956 | 1% |
| EC | £1,257 | £1,204 | 4% |
| N | £939 | £936 | 0% |
| NW | £1,012 | £1,003 | 1% |
| SE | £947 | £935 | 1% |
| SW | £1,035 | £1,043 | -1% |
| W | £1,072 | £1,053 | 2% |
| WC | £1,341 | £1,343 | 0% |
| London | £995 | £989 | 1% |
| UK | £745 | £720 | 4% |
| UK (excl London) | £660 | £630 | 5% |
London sees postcodes continue to decrease
Rental prices in multiple London postcodes have continued to decrease since Q4 2023 (the first time since Q1 2022), through to Q2 2024. W8 (Holland Park) and N2 (East Finchley) saw the biggest drop (-11%), followed by SW7 (South Kensington/Knightsbridge) and SW3 (Chelsea), -7% respectively.
The cheapest London postcodes are:
| London postcodes | Average monthly room rent Q3 2024 |
| E4 (Chingford) | £777 |
| E6 (East Ham) | £778 |
| E7 (Forest Gate) | £785 |
| SE12 (Lee) | £789 |
| SE9 (Eltham) | £796 |
| E12 (Manor Park) | £807 |
| N18 (Upper Edmonton) | £809 |
| SE2 (Abbey Wood) | £809 |
| N22 (Wood green) | £817 |
| SE25 (Norwood) | £822 |
UK’s most expensive towns and cities
Southend-on-Sea saw the biggest YOY increase out of the 50 largest towns & cities (11%), closely followed by Dundee (10%). Warrington was the only town to see a decrease in rent (-2%), and Nottingham, Huddersfield and Coventry remained the same (0%).
These are the most expensive places to rent in the UK, outside London:
| Town/City | Average monthly room rent Q3 2024 |
| Edinburgh | £920 |
| Twickenham | £912 |
| Kingston upon Thames | £911 |
| Barnet | £846 |
| Epsom | £833 |
| Croydon | £831 |
| Bromley | £829 |
| Harrow | £824 |
| Oxford | £818 |
| Cambridge | £812 |
UK’s cheapest towns and cities
The cheapest areas to rent outside of the capital in Q3 were Bootle and Huddersfield, which have stayed consistent in their positions for the third consecutive quarter in 2024.
These are the cheapest towns and cities to rent in the UK:
| Town/City | Average monthly room rent Q3 2024 |
| Bootle | £453 |
| Huddersfield | £458 |
| Scunthorpe | £473 |
| Bradford | £475 |
| Middlesbrough | £477 |
| Blackburn | £478 |
| Burnley | £489 |
| Hull | £493 |
| Grimsby | £493 |
| South Shields | £495 |
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Methodology
SpareRoom’s Quarterly Rental Index compares data from Q3 2024 with Q3 2023, based on 200,000+ UK room ads (inclusive of bills). Sample size is the combined total across both periods.
Towns/cities/postcodes with a sample size of under 25 have been excluded from this report. London data covers E, EC, N, NW, SE, SW, W & WC postcodes.
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Every quarter we analyse 100s of 1,000s of room rents for the SpareRoom rental index. Giving you average rents and rent increases and declines across London and the UK: