Renters face rising costs as rents climb again

Rents continue to rise across the UK as renters struggle with affordability, according to new data.

Figures by SpareRoom reveal renting a room in the UK now costs £761 per month on average, a 0.5% increase on the previous year.

Across the UK, rents have risen almost 7% in the past three years.

Year-on-year rent rise

According to the data, the largest year-on-year rent rise has been in South West England (+1.6%) but, comparing Q2 2026 with Q2 2023, it’s East Anglia that’s seen the biggest three-year increase, rents here are up 9.9%.

Greater London is the only region that has seen a year-on-year rent fall, with room rents in the capital down 0.2%.

Norwich has seen the highest increase in room rents (+5.1%), while Lincoln has seen the biggest decrease (-4%). London (£979), Edinburgh (£834) and Oxford (£814) have the most expensive room rents, while Lincoln (£510), Swansea (£532) and Sheffield (£533) have the cheapest.

However, Sheffield rents in Q2 (£533) matched the record high set in Q3 2025 and are rising 1.4% year on year. Rents in Liverpool hit a record high in Q2 (£556), and rents are rising 4.4% year on year.

Rising rents across the country have to be addressed

Matt Hutchinson, director at flatshare site SpareRoom, explains that regulation alone will not solve the housing crisis.

He said: “Rising rents across the country have to be addressed. The Renters’ Rights Act will improve standards, but it’s only half the job. The next, crucial, step is to tackle affordability.

“You can’t solve the housing crisis through regulation alone. Unless real action is taken to protect and expand rental supply, tenants will continue to face higher rents, shrinking choice, and even greater pressure in what is an already-stretched market.

“Flatsharing is the cheapest way to rent but the data shows it’s far from immune to market pressures.”

Concerned about affordability

In London, South-east London postcodes dominate the highest rent risers list, led by huge year-on-year rent hikes in Crystal Palace and Forest Hill (+11.1%).

The average room rent in inner London is now £979 per month, a marginal rise of 0.3% on the previous year. In outer London, rent is now £794 per month, down 0.6% year-on-year.

Mr Hutchinson explains: “Crystal Palace and Forest Hill were once seen as ‘good value alternatives’ to places like Clapham or East Dulwich. Today, they’re highly desirable in their own right, with plenty of green space, the Windrush line and rail connections, bags of character, and rents below the inner London average.

“In the knowledge that sky-high housing and living costs might mean they’re sharing for years to come, flatsharers today are increasingly concerned about quality of life as well as affordability, and they’re moving wherever can offer them the best of both, pushing up rents in the process.”

The data also reveals flatshare supply dropped by 5% in inner London in the second quarter of 2026, during which phase one of the Renters’ Rights Act kicked in.