Average room rents across the UK reached a record £769 a month in the third quarter of 2026, according to data from flatshare site SpareRoom, while the supply of rooms fell 4.7% year on year.
Seven of the UK's nine regions set new highs. Greater London, at £932, and North East England, at £554, were the exceptions, and the North East's average slipped 0.1% over the year. South West England recorded the biggest regional rise at 2.3%, taking the average to £689. The East Midlands followed with 1.8% growth to £576, and East Anglia and the South East each gained 1.2%.
Room rents by region and city
England's average reached a record £775, up 1%, and Scotland rose 1.1% to £726. Northern Ireland saw the sharpest increase of any nation, up 7% to £600. Wales edged up 0.9% to £593, short of a record.
Among the 30 cities with the most flatshare supply, Belfast and Exeter recorded the biggest annual rent rises, at 6.8% and 4.5% respectively. In Exeter, a shortage of on-campus accommodation pushed demand for rooms up 79% year on year, the highest of any UK city. Swansea (down 3.6%) and Manchester (down 2.1%) saw the largest falls, while Salford, Cardiff and Birmingham also declined. Inner London's average passed £1,000 for the first time in the index, reaching £1,002, up 1.1%.
Supply falls after Renters' Rights Act
Supply moved in the opposite direction to rents. Room ads grew 19.4% in the year to Q3 2023, 20.1% in 2024 and 8.2% in 2025 before dropping 4.7% this year, after the introduction of the Renters' Rights Act in England in May.
SpareRoom's Q3 index draws on more than 241,000 UK room ads, covering rooms only rather than whole properties. Rents are mean asking prices including bills, and rooms priced under £150 a month are excluded. The firm launched an updated methodology in Q2 and recalculated its historical data to keep the series consistent.
"Those navigating the rental market today will find they're faced with inflated prices and shrinking supply," said Matt Hutchinson, director at SpareRoom.
"The pressure is coming from several directions. Supply is down because the Renters' Rights Act has driven away landlords in England. Some feel the investment opportunity is no longer worth the effort of compliance. Plus, councils across the country are cracking down on HMOs when the need for affordable rooms has rarely been more urgent. Rents are rising, not just because supply is down, but also because a knock-on effect of banning bidding wars is that asking rents are being set higher.
"Affordable housing is supposed to be a political priority, yet the outlook for meaningful improvement is bleak as the Government hasn't yet acknowledged these problems in the rental market. The Renters' Rights Act is a solid step in terms of tenant security, but there has to be a second push to tackle affordability, otherwise renters end up in secure tenancies they still can't afford."
