Six regions out of nine are now showing recent high rents, it’s claimed.
Flatshare website SpareRoom says renting a room in the UK now costs £761 per month on average, a 0.5% increase on the previous year.
Across the UK, rents have risen almost 7% in the past three years.
Regionally, the largest year-on-year rent rise has been in South West England (+1.6%) but, comparing Q2 2026 with Q2 2023, it’s East Anglia that’s seen the biggest three-year increase; rents here are up 9.9%.
Greater London is the only region that has seen a year-on-year rent fall: room rents in the capital are down 0.2%.
The table below shows rents by region:
| Ave monthly room rent Q2 2026 | Ave monthly room rent Q2 2025 | Ave monthly room rent Q2 2023 | 1-year change | 3-year change | |
| East Anglia | £684 | £674 | £622 | 1.5% | 9.9% |
| East Midlands | £568 | £565 | £543 | 0.5% | 4.6% |
| Greater London | £915 | £917 | £899 | -0.2% | 1.8% |
| North East England | £552 | £552 | £519 | 0.0% | 6.3% |
| North West England | £614 | £607 | £565 | 1.2% | 8.6% |
| South East England | £703 | £693 | £642 | 1.5% | 9.5% |
| South West England | £678 | £668 | £620 | 1.6% | 9.4% |
| West Midlands | £587 | £581 | £552 | 0.9% | 6.3% |
| Yorkshire & Humber | £569 | £568 | £541 | 0.1% | 5.1% |
| Whole of UK | £761 | £757 | £713 | 0.5% | 6.7% |
Norwich has seen the highest increase in room rents (+5.1%) while Lincoln has seen the biggest decrease (-4%).
London (£979), Edinburgh (£834) and Oxford (£814) have the most expensive room rents, while Lincoln (£510), Swansea (£532) and Sheffield (£533) have the cheapest.
However, Sheffield rents in Q2 (£533) matched the record high set in Q3 2025, and are rising 1.4% year on year.
Rents in Liverpool hit a record high in Q2 (£556) and rents are rising 4.4% year on year.
| City | Ave monthly room rent Q2 2026 | Ave monthly room rent Q2 2025 | Year-on-year rent change | |
| 1 | Norwich | £619 | £589 | 5.1% |
| 2 | Exeter | £672 | £641 | 4.9% |
| 3 | Liverpool | £556 | £533 | 4.4% |
| 4 | Coventry | £565 | £542 | 4.1% |
| 5 | Colchester | £634 | £622 | 2.0% |
| 6 | Milton Keynes | £686 | £674 | 1.7% |
| 7 | Sheffield | £533 | £526 | 1.4% |
| 8 | Edinburgh | £834 | £824 | 1.2% |
| 9 | Southampton | £662 | £657 | 0.8% |
| 10 | Cambridge | £796 | £789 | 0.8% |
| 11 | Salford | £701 | £697 | 0.6% |
| 12 | Birmingham | £612 | £609 | 0.5% |
| 13 | Oxford | £814 | £810 | 0.4% |
| 14 | Cardiff | £647 | £645 | 0.4% |
| 15 | Plymouth | £589 | £587 | 0.3% |
| 16 | London (Inner) | £979 | £977 | 0.3% |
| 17 | Nottingham | £584 | £583 | 0.2% |
| 18 | Bristol | £730 | £730 | 0.0% |
| 19 | Peterborough | £585 | £587 | -0.4% |
| 20 | Glasgow | £676 | £679 | -0.5% |
| 21 | York | £744 | £749 | -0.6% |
| 22 | Manchester | £680 | £684 | -0.6% |
| 23 | Derby | £581 | £585 | -0.8% |
| 24 | Brighton & Hove | £742 | £750 | -1.1% |
| 25 | Portsmouth | £646 | £654 | -1.2% |
| 26 | Leeds | £572 | £580 | -1.3% |
| 27 | Newcastle-upon-Tyne | £594 | £604 | -1.6% |
| 28 | Leicester | £561 | £571 | -1.7% |
| 29 | Swansea | £532 | £548 | -2.8% |
| 30 | Lincoln | £510 | £531 | -4.0% |
Matt Hutchinson, site director, comments:“Rising rents across the country have to be addressed.
“The Renters Rights Act will improve standards, but it’s only half the job. The next, crucial, step is to tackle affordability.
“You can’t solve the housing crisis through regulation alone. Unless real action is taken to protect and expand rental supply, tenants will continue to face higher rents, shrinking choice, and even greater pressure in what is an already-stretched market.
“Flatsharing is the cheapest way to rent but the data shows it’s far from immune to market pressures.”
