The cost of renting a room in the UK remained steady during Q3, according to SpareRoom.

The country’s biggest flatsharing site says that there has been ‘surprisingly little’ change in average rents for rooms since the Tenant Fees Act was introduced in June.

The cost of renting a room during Q3 was up just 1% on last year at a monthly cost of £600, according to SpareRoom’s report, which is based on almost 300,000 listings.

It cites Northern Ireland as the cheapest region in the UK with average room rents of £352, with Galashiels in Scotland taking the title of cheapest town to rent at an average of £303.

Meanwhile, Guernsey outranks London as the most expensive UK rental location, with a typical room cost of £796 per month. In the capital, the average renter can expect to pay a monthly fee of £782.

“Despite repeated warnings that the tenancy fees ban would drive rents up, so far that’s not been the case,” says Matt Hutchinson, SpareRoom’s communications director.

“Even with July, August and September being the busiest months for new tenancies we haven’t seen a significant bump in rents. It’s still early days but, for now, tenants will be breathing a sigh of relief,” he says.

Last week, ARLA Propertymark reported that the number of landlords increasing rents hit a record high for the fourth consecutive month.