The average rent for a room in London was £952 in the first quarter of 2023, new data shows, as the capital’s rental crisis refuses to abate. In fact, for the first time, every single postcode in London had an average monthly rent of £700 or more.
The latest data from house share advertising portal SpareRoom shows that, on average, room rents averaged across every London postcode went up by 20% between the first quarter of 2022 and 2023. In some parts of London, rents went up by 34%.
Where is the average rent in London highest?
The highest spare room rents in the city are, unsurprisingly, in areas such as Chelsea, South Kensington, Mayfair and Soho. In Chelsea, rents increased by 15% in the past year, to surpass £1,500 for a room.
The cheapest parts of the city are on the outer edges of east and north-east London, like Lower Edmonton in Enfield, and Manor Park in Newham. These are now the only London postcodes where the average spare room rent price is close to £700 a month.
But these rents are rising, particularly in outer London areas along the newly opened Elizabeth Line. Manor Park room rents have gone up by 17% in the past year. Abbey Wood, on the east end of the Elizabeth Line, saw rents rise by a third in the past year, as did Hanwell on the west of the line.
The London rental crisis is having far-reaching impacts
Recent research found that 87% of renters said the current rental market's unaffordability was forcing them to delay major life plans. With the number of new monthly listings in London on SpareRoom 43% lower than in February 2020, almost three-quarters of renters who hadn't moved in the past 18 months said they had wanted to but couldn't in the current market.
Some renters had placed huge life goals on hold: 15% had postponed moving in with a partner, and 14% put off planning for a family, while one in 20 had delayed getting married.
[Read More: How Crossrail is affecting house prices in Outer London]
