New research shows which areas of London are the most expensive for flatsharing, and where are the cheapest places to rent a room…

Lead image by Free-Photos from Pixabay

When the Deposit Protection Scheme, which supervises tenancy deposits, revealed that UK rents had fallen for the first time in a decade back in January – with London recording the biggest fall in cash terms – jaws hit the flaw. Falling rents? What is this black magic!

But it wasn’t to last long. SpareRoom’s Q2 2019 Rental Index – a comprehensive overview of the UK flatshare market using data from over 300,000 ads – show that the average UK monthly room rent has increased by 2% to £603 compared to this time last year, while London room rents are up 4% to £777, increasing by an average of £33 per month.

‘UK monthly room rent has increased by 2% compared to this time last year, while London room rents are up 4%’

Crunching the numbers further, SpareRoom revealed that St Paul’s in Zone 1 is the most expensive place in London to rent a room, coming in at £1,361 a month, which is hardly surprising, given most of the land is given over to offices, bars and the One New Change shopping centre. And then there’s the little matter of living next to one of London’s most famous landmarks – St Paul’s Cathedral.

And the cheapest place to flatshare in London? Abbey Wood in Zone 4. Located just beyond Woolwich, Abbey Wood is set to be the major terminus for the Elizabeth line in south east London, so we can’t imagine rents will be a bargain there five years down the line, and those looking to buy would do well to scope out the area.

SpareRoom has produced a London Rental Heat Map

Below are the 10 most expensive and the 10 cheapest places to rent in London according to the research by SpareRoom…

The 10 most expensive areas to flatshare in London:

St Paul’s (£1,361) South Kensington/Knightsbridge (£1,180) Strand/Holborn (£1,156) Holland Park (£1,146) Westminster / Belgravia / Pimlico (£1,086) Aldgate (£1,078) West End / Soho (£1,074) Chelsea (£1,071) Bloomsbury / High Holborn (£1,065) Earl’s Court / West Brompton (£1,042)

The 10 cheapest areas to flatshare in London:

Abbey Wood (£531) Catford (£544) Eltham (£562) Manor Park (£562) Lee (£565) Thamesmead (£566) Penge (£569) Lower Edmonton (£571) Forest Gate (£573) Plaistow (£574)

Further research by rental site Howsy used data from gov.uk and ONS to compared average salaries to average rents in different areas of London, to discover what percentage of people’s salaries are being spent on rent. Figures ranged from 46% in the boroughs of Bexley and Bromley, to a whopping 83% in Hackney. More below:

Howsy compared avaerage salaries to average rents to discover the percentage of people’s salaries being spent on rent

So there you have it. Whether you’re looking for a lavish lifestyle or a bargain, now you know where to look…