It's Actually Getting Cheaper To Rent In London, Apparently

Laura Reynolds
By Laura Reynolds Last edited 74 months ago

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It's Actually Getting Cheaper To Rent In London, Apparently

Your bank account may tell a different story, but rent prices in London are decreasing year on year, according to SpareRoom's latest London Rental Index, which uses data from the last three months (Q4) of 2017.

London rent prices are down an average of 2% compared to the same period in 2016, with the average rent now £737 per month. However, this is an increase since London rents hit a three year low earlier in 2017; the averages for Q2 and Q3 2017 were £722 and £725 respectively.

The most expensive areas to rent in London will comes as no surprise; SW7 (South Kensington) averages £1,108 per month, W8 (Holland Park) averages £1,069, and in WC2 (Holborn), it's £1,047.

Image: Spare Room

Manor Park (E12) is London’s least expensive postcode, with an average monthly rent of £523, but this is still significantly more than the national average of £459 a month. The E20 postcode proves something of an anomaly — presumably that's the 'London 2012 Legacy' that we heard so much about, pulling up prices in and around the Olympic Park.

SpareRoom also shared data on which areas of London are most in demand. City-wide, there is an average of five people searching for each room available on the site. WC postcodes are most in demand, with 11 people searching per available room:

London's rent decrease contrasts to areas outside of the capital, where average rent prices are still increasing 1% year-on-year.

It'll come as no surprise to those in the commuter suburbs that eight of the ten most expensive places to rent outside of the capital, can be found on the outskirts of London and in Surrey.

You can find more information, including data for your area, on SpareRoom's Rental index page.

Last Updated 29 January 2018