- London average room rents saw marginal year-on-year decreases in every quarter of 2025, but at £985 per month, rents in the capital are still way above the ceiling of affordability for many people.
- As more Londoners search in the cheapest areas, one of the more affordable postcode areas (SE) saw the highest rent rise in Q4 2025.
- By postcode district, SW13 (Barnes) and NW7 (Mill Hill) saw the highest year-on-year rent increases of 14% and 13% respectively. In Barnes this pushed the average rent from £854 to £970 per month.
- Only six postcodes in the capital have sub-£800 per month average rents, including E12 (Manor Park), E6 (East Ham) and N9 (Lower Edmonton).
London's average room rent saw a year-on year decrease of 0.9% in Q4 2025, and is now £985 per month, according to rental index data from flatshare site SpareRoom. One of the cheapest postcode areas (SE), where the average rent is £958 per month, has seen the highest year-on-year average rent increase (+1.2%).
London rents hit a record high of £1,015 per month two years ago, in Q4 2023. Despite marginal year-on-year average rent decreases throughout 2025, rents in the capital are still way above the ceiling of affordability for many people, after years of upward pressure on rents caused by intense post-pandemic demand.
A few postcodes in the east, north and south-east of London still offer average rents of under £800 per month, including E12 (Manor Park), E6 (East Ham) and N9 (Lower Edmonton).
But competition in suburbia is increasingly fierce. Surrey town Esher, just 30-minutes from Waterloo by train, has seen demand for rooms increase by 32% between Q4 2024 and Q4 2025 - one of the highest rises in the UK - and there are now 11.2 people searching for every room available to rent here. With average rent in Esher £740 per month, renting in Esher over London could save you almost £3,000 in rent per year, though commute costs should be factored in.
The graph below shows how post-pandemic demand caused rents to soar by 35% in the space of just two years, from £731 per month in Q3 2021 to £990 in Q3 2023:
Today, demand - both nationwide and in London - has more or less corrected to pre-pandemic levels, as shown in the table below. Yet rents have remained high. SW7 (South Kensington / Knightsbridge) has the most expensive average room rent in the capital at £1,539 per month. The cheapest postcode is E12 (Manor Park) with an average rent of £741 per month.
This table shows how room rents have changed year on year in the eight London postcode areas:
| London regions | Average monthly room rent Q4 2025 | Average monthly room rent Q4 2024 | Annual change Q4 2025 vs Q4 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| E | £949 | £957 | -0.9% |
| EC | £1,212 | £1,249 | -2.9% |
| N | £949 | £961 | -1.3% |
| NW | £985 | £1,016 | -3.0% |
| SE | £958 | £947 | 1.2% |
| SW | £1,028 | £1,037 | -0.9% |
| W | £1,054 | £1,053 | 0.1% |
| WC | £1,320 | £1,318 | 0.1% |
| London (inner) | £985 | £993 | -0.9% |
| Whole of UK | £749 | £745 | 0.5% |
| UK (excl London) | £670 | £664 | 0.9% |
This table shows the 10 most and least expensive postcode districts in London:
| Most expensive | Least expensive | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Postcode | Average monthly room rent Q4 2025 | Postcode | Average monthly room rent Q4 2025 |
| SW7 (South Kensington/Knightsbridge) | £1,539 | E12 (Manor Park) | £741 |
| WC2 (Strand/Holborn) | £1,488 | E6 (East Ham) | £755 |
| W1 (West End/Soho) | £1,458 | N9 (Lower Edmonton) | £760 |
| W8 (Holland Park) | £1,442 | E4 (Chingford) | £768 |
| SW3 (Chelsea) | £1,341 | E7 (Forest Gate) | £781 |
| SW10 (West Brompton/Chelsea) | £1,335 | N18 (Upper Edmonton) | £791 |
| WC1 (Bloomsbury/High Holborn) | £1,300 | E13 (Plaistow) | £801 |
| E20 (Olympic Park) | £1,290 | SE9 (Eltham) | £807 |
| NW1 (Camden) | £1,273 | SE2 (Abbey Wood) | £814 |
| SW5 (Earl's Court/West Brompton) | £1,257 | N13 (Palmers Green) | £824 |
This table shows the 10 postcode districts where rents have risen most year on year. With the exception of SW10 (West Brompton / Chelsea) and E20 (Olympic Park), all these postcodes have below-average rents for London:
| Postcode | Average monthly room rent Q4 2025 | Average monthly room rent Q4 2024 | Annual change Q4 2025 vs Q4 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| SW13 (Barnes) | £970 | £854 | 14% |
| NW7 (Mill Hill) | £926 | £820 | 13% |
| SE22 (Dulwich) | £976 | £889 | 10% |
| SE2 (Abbey Wood) | £814 | £758 | 7% |
| SE3 (Blackheath) | £961 | £901 | 7% |
| SW10 (West Brompton / Chelsea) | £1,335 | £1,252 | 7% |
| E18 (South Woodford) | £838 | £787 | 6% |
| SE13 (Lewisham) | £948 | £897 | 6% |
| E20 (Olympic Park) | £1,290 | £1,222 | 6% |
| SE26 (Sydenham) | £902 | £862 | 5% |
Matt Hutchinson, director at flatshare site SpareRoom, comments: "Long-term unaffordable rents don't just push people into debt and poverty, they can also change society and the economy too. If the capital can't support its frontline and essential workers, or younger people starting out in their careers, the whole profile of the city changes. The pressure of demand on suburbia will force up rents there too, until there's nowhere left to go. Only a meaningful decrease in average rents will improve the situation, and that hinges on a supply injection.”