SpareRoom Rental Index
UK rental market is slowly rebalancing
UK rents as a whole grew by 1% year-on-year in Q4. The average monthly room rent continues to rise, this time from £738 to £774. However, London rents have fallen consistently in every quarter of 2024, finishing with a -2% drop in Q4 and securing it's place as the only region of the UK to drop in Q4.
UK rental hikes are slowing
The largest regional YOY increases were seen in North West (5%), followed by East Anglia, North East and South West which were all up by 3%.
| Region | Average monthly room rent Q4 2024 | Average monthly room rent Q4 2023 | Annual change Q4 2024 vs Q4 2023 |
| East Anglia | £669 | £650 | 3% |
| East Midlands | £563 | £562 | 0% |
| North East | £552 | £535 | 3% |
| North West | £608 | £581 | 5% |
| Northern Ireland | £567 | £555 | 2% |
| Scotland | £683 | £682 | 0% |
| South East | £745 | £731 | 2% |
| South West | £665 | £649 | 3% |
| Wales | £586 | £574 | 2% |
| West Midlands | £563 | £559 | 1% |
| Yorkshire and Humberside | £556 | £555 | 0% |
| London | £993 | £1,015 | -2% |
| UK | £774 | £738 | 1% |
| UK (excl London) | £661 | £647 | 2% |
London rental increases fall consistently in 2024
The UK saw rents increase by 1% YOY, meanwhile London rents decreased overall by -2% (the largest drop since Q1 2021). Every single London region fell by at least -1%, with East and East Central seeing the biggest decreases at -3% respectively.
| London regions | Average monthly room rent Q4 2024 | Average monthly room rent Q4 2023 | Annual change Q4 2024 vs Q4 2023 |
| E | £959 | £989 | -3% |
| EC | £1,248 | £1,281 | -3% |
| N | £961 | £975 | -1% |
| NW | £1,014 | £1,024 | -1% |
| SE | £947 | £957 | -1% |
| SW | £1,035 | £1,053 | -2% |
| W | £1,053 | £1,076 | -2% |
| WC | £1,319 | £1,329 | -1% |
| London | £993 | £1,015 | -2% |
| UK | £744 | £738 | 1% |
| UK (excl London) | £661 | £647 | 2% |
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). SW1 (Westminster / Belgravia / Pimlico) saw the biggest drop (-13%), followed by SE21 (Dulwich) at -10%, and SW3 (Chelsea) and E8 (Dalston) -9% respectively.
The cheapest London postcodes are:
| London postcodes | Average monthly room rent Q4 2024 |
| SE2 (Abbey Wood) | £760 |
| E12 (Manor Park) | £770 |
| N9 (Lower Edmonton) | £780 |
| E6 (East Ham) | £782 |
| E18 (South Woodford) | £786 |
| E4 (Chingford) | £806 |
| SW13 (Barnes) | £808 |
| E7 (Forest Gate) | £813 |
| SE28 (Thamesmead) | £816 |
| E13 (Plaistow) | £820 |
UK’s most expensive towns and cities
Blackpool saw the biggest YOY increase out of the 50 largest towns & cities (13%), followed by Newcastle upon Tyne and Aberdeen (both 8%). 14 of the 50 towns and cities saw rents decrease with Dundee seeing the largest drop (-15%). 6 of the 50 saw no change (0%) including Bristol, Sheffield, Wolverhampton, Coventry, Belfast and Cambridge.
These are the most expensive places to rent in the UK, outside London:
| Town/City | Average monthly room rent Q4 2024 |
| Twickenham | £928 |
| Kingston upon Thames | £920 |
| Epsom | £855 |
| Barnet | £847 |
| Bromley | £838 |
| Croydon | £834 |
| Oxford | £825 |
| Guildford | £822 |
| St.Albans | £821 |
| Harrow | £815 |
UK’s cheapest towns and cities
The cheapest area to rent outside of the capital in Q4 was Bootle, which has remained in the top spot for the whole of 2024.
These are the cheapest towns and cities to rent in the UK:
| Town/City | Average monthly room rent Q4 2024 |
| Bootle | £447 |
| Barnsley | £465 |
| Bradford | £473 |
| Middlesbrough | £473 |
| Huddersfield | £474 |
| Burnley | £480 |
| Rotherham | £483 |
| Stockton-on-Tees | £484 |
| Grimsby | £486 |
| Hull | £488 |
===
Methodology
SpareRoom’s Quarterly Rental Index compares data from Q4 2024 with Q4 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.
===
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: