Rent. It keeps going up, doesn't it? Well, not always.
Over the past year, the average rental price has increased in 28 of London's 32 boroughs. Camden, Kensington & Chelsea, Kingston, and Westminster have all got cheaper for renters (on average) since we last looked at the figures in June 2025.
Across the whole of London, rents have gone up 2.2% in one year, and now stand at an average of £2,302 per month (up from £2,252 last year). Looking back to 2016 (a ten year span), this is up from £1,679 per month.
The figures, from the July 2026 release by the Office of National Statistics (ONS), reinforce what everyone already knows: London is an expensive place to live. The most spendy borough of all is, unsurprisingly, the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea, where renters must find an average £3,596 per month (down from £3,616 last year). This is the most expensive place to rent in the UK. Westminster is not far behind, on £3,168 per month.
The cheapest borough, meanwhile, remains Bexley, where the average rent is less than half that of K&C's at £1,528. This is still greater than the national (English) average, which stands at £1,446.
It should be noted that these prices are averaged across all property types, from the smallest studio flat to a multi-roomed town house. In K&C, for example, a one-bed flat costs a 'mere' £2,572 a month. Shift over to Bexley, and you can enjoy a one-bed rental at an average price of £1,531 per month.
Now the good news. While rents are continuing to go up in almost all boroughs, the rate is slowing down. The ONS has now recorded drops over seven successive months. Rent is still going up, but not as fast as it was last year.
We'll update this article annually with fresh data.
Below, we've pasted in last-year's picture, using June 2025 data
