Wales sees sharp rise in room rents

Room rents in Wales have soared nearly three times more than the average room rent across the UK over the past year, according to new research.

Data from SpareRoom reveals that room rents in Wales have risen by 40% over the past five years, from £419 to £586 per month, compared with a 28% increase across the UK.

The flatshare website says this has been driven by rent rises in Cardiff, where room rents are up 5% year on year.

Immense pressure on the already limited supply of shared accommodation

According to the findings, room rents in Cardiff have risen by 49% over the past five years, increasing from £443 to £661 per month, compared with a 37% rise in London.

Across Wales’s three largest cities, Newport overtook Swansea in the first quarter of 2024 for the first time since Q3 2021 and has recorded higher average room rents ever since.

Renters now pay 7% more for a room in Newport, where the average rent stands at £575 per month, compared with £539 per month in Swansea.

Matt Hutchinson, director of flatshare site SpareRoom, said: “The decline of affordable housing, coupled with weak wage growth and the high cost of living, is pushing more people into the flatshare market, putting immense pressure on the already limited supply of shared accommodation.

“At the same time, renters are suffering, even years later, from market volatility in the aftermath of the pandemic, which forced rents up to levels beyond people’s ceiling of affordability. They never came back down again because demand has always outweighed supply. Without households renting rooms to lodgers, demand in the Welsh rental market would be far more intense and average rents would be higher.”

The data also shows demand remains strong in Wales, with 3.8 people searching for each room available to rent in Q3 2025. However, supply has been on an upward trajectory, peaking in January 2025, which was the busiest month of the year for new flatshare adverts.