London room rents have risen by 37 per cent over the past five years, pushing the average cost of a room up to £995 per month, new data shows.
According to flatshare site SpareRoom, the average London room rent between July and September 2020 was £728 per month, rising up to £995 for the same period this year. This means that the average tenant is currently paying £267pcm more for a room than five years ago.
London room rents reached their highest point — £1,015 per month — at the end of 2023 and are now nearing the £1,000 per month mark once more.
That said, over the past year, the average London room rents have fallen by 0.1 per cent.
North London has seen the biggest price rises, going up from an average of £941 per month in 2024 to £961 per month now, an increase of 2.1 per cent.
They have fallen most in the City of London, one of the capital’s most expensive postcodes. Last year, the average room cost £1,258 per month to rent, lowering to £1,220 per month now.
Despite variations across London, SpareRoom says that steadily rising rents are pushing renters out of London and into nearby commuter towns, which are seeing some of the steepest rent increases in the country as a result of new demand. In St Albans, for example, rents have risen by 10 per cent in the last year, while those in Brentwood, on the Elizabeth Line, have gone up by five per cent.
“Because of chronic undersupply in the London rental market, rents are stubbornly high and meeting affordability criteria —not spending more than 30 per cent of your salary on rent— is rarely possible,” says Matt Hutchinson, director of SpareRoom.
“When even the cheapest room in London is above £700 per month, hardworking people the capital relies on to function have little choice but to leave.”
London’s priciest postcodes
London’s most expensive postcodes to rent a room are all concentrated in west London. WC2, covering the Strand and Holborn, tops the list, with an average room rent of £1,674 per month.
It’s followed by W1, spanning the West End and Soho, where rents average £1,504 per month, and SW7 (South Kensington and Knightsbridge), where a room costs £1,498 per month.
Despite its higher prices, rents in SW7 are actually getting cheaper: the average renter is paying £136 per month less than this time last year, representing a reduction of 8.3 per cent.
Holland Park, Chelsea, Bloomsbury, West Brompton, Bayswater, Westminster, Belgravia and Pimlico all have average room rents of over £1,258 per month.
London’s most affordable postcodes
Manor Park (E12), in Newham, has the lowest average room rent of anywhere in London, according to SpareRoom’s data. At £721 per month, a room is £274 less than the capital’s average.
It’s followed by nearby East Ham (E6), with an average room rent of £759 per month, and Lower Edmonton (N9), at £788 per month.
Chingford, Abbey Wood, Lee, Leyton, Forest Gate, Upper Edmonton and Wood Green complete the top 10 most affordable areas for renters, with room prices all under £820 per month.
Changing prices
Renters with tighter budgets should consider searching in south-east London, SpareRoom advises, where the average room rent is lowest, at £951 per month.
But some of London’s most affordable areas are also seeing the greatest price rises. Four SE postcodes —Blackheath (SE3), Herne Hill (SE24), Brockley (SE4) and Eltham (SE9)— saw some of the highest spikes in rents over the past year, with rents in Blackheath, for example, going up by 8.9 per cent, from £880 to £959.
In Herne Hill, similarly, room rents rose from £894 to £971, representing an 8.6 per cent increase. Those in Brockley went up by 7.9 per cent, and 7 per cent in Eltham.
Bethnal Green (E2), Barnes (SW13), New Southgate (N11) and Winchmore Hill (N21) also saw rent rises of more than six per cent.
Nevertheless, there are pockets of London where rents are also falling. As well as being the most affordable place in the capital to rent a room, for example, Manor Park has seen the biggest fall in rents, from £807 per month last year to £721 per month now, representing a drop of 10.6 per cent.
In South Woodford (E18), likewise, average room rents have fallen by £83 (9.2 per cent) over the past year, from £905 per month down to £822.
Alongside SW7, rents have also gone down by more than 5 per cent in Forest Hill (SE23), Walworth (SE17), Lower Edmonton (N9), East Finchley (N2), Earl’s Court and West Brompton (SW5), Dulwich (SE21) and the West End (W1).
