New data from rental site SpareRoom reveals that the average room in London now costs £915 per month to rent, £2 less than the same time last year, representing a fall of 0.2 per cent. Inner London rooms are slightly more expensive at £979pcm on average, with rents rising by 0.3 per cent over the same period. In outer London, the average room costs £794pcm, down 0.6 per cent.
Supply Dynamics and Long-Term Trends
According to SpareRoom, the discrepancy between inner and outer London is due to flatshare supply dropping by five per cent after the Renters' Rights Act came into force in May, while supply in outer London has held steady. Despite these modest year-on-year drops, average London rents have surged by 34 per cent over the last five years, from £685pcm in 2021.
London's Most Expensive Postcodes
Unsurprisingly, the capital's priciest postcodes for renters are all in west London, with the exception of the City of London. SW7, covering South Kensington and Knightsbridge, tops the table with an average room cost of £1,599pcm. It is followed by W1 in the West End at £1,471pcm and W8 (Holland Park) at £1,449pcm. Five of the top 10 most expensive postcodes are in Kensington and Chelsea: SW7, W8, SW3 (Chelsea), SW10 (West Brompton) and SW5 (Earl's Court). However, rents in SW10 have actually fallen by 6.4 per cent, with the average room now costing £1,282pcm.
The top 10 most expensive postcodes are:
- SW7 (South Kensington, Knightsbridge) – £1,599pcm
- W1 (West End) – £1,471pcm
- W8 (Holland Park) – £1,449pcm
- SW3 (Chelsea) – £1,360pcm
- SW1 (Westminster, Victoria) – £1,284pcm
- SW10 (West Brompton) – £1,282pcm
- WC1 (Bloomsbury, High Holborn) – £1,274pcm
- SW5 (Earl's Court) – £1,273pcm
- EC1 (Aldersgate, Finsbury, Holborn) – £1,267pcm
- NW1 (Regent's Park, St Pancras) – £1,217pcm
London's Least Expensive Postcodes
London's most affordable postcodes are mostly on the opposite side of the capital, concentrated on the outer edges of north and east London. Four of the top 10 are in Newham. The cheapest place to rent a room is E12 (Manor Park), with average rents at £729pcm – £186 cheaper than the London average. Manor Park has seen one of the biggest drops in rental prices over the last year, with rents down from £866pcm (-7.2 per cent). Other affordable postcodes include E6 (East Ham) at £734pcm and E7 (Forest Gate) at £778pcm, where rents have fallen by four per cent since 2025. Two south-east London postcodes also make the top 10: SE20 (Penge) at £796pcm and SE25 (Norwood) at £804pcm.
The top 10 least expensive postcodes are:
- E12 (Manor Park) – £729pcm
- E6 (East Ham) – £734pcm
- E7 (Forest Gate) – £778pcm
- N18 (Upper Edmonton) – £789pcm
- N9 (Lower Edmonton) – £789pcm
- E4 (Chingford) – £792pcm
- SE20 (Penge) – £796pcm
- N21 (Winchmore Hill) – £797pcm
- E13 (Plaistow) – £800pcm
- SE25 (Norwood) – £804pcm
Where Rents Have Risen Most
While rents may have dropped slightly across London overall, parts of southeast London are bucking the trend. In Crystal Palace (SE19) and Forest Hill (SE23), rents rose by 11.1 per cent – well above the London average of -0.2 per cent and the average for SE postcodes of one per cent growth. In Crystal Palace, the average room now costs £901pcm, up from £811 in the summer of 2025 – a rise of £90 per month, or £1,080 per year. In Forest Hill, rents have increased from £822pcm to £913pcm.
Matt Hutchinson, SpareRoom's director, said: "Crystal Palace and Forest Hill were once seen as 'good value alternatives' to places like Clapham or East Dulwich. Today, they're highly desirable in their own right, with plenty of green space, the Windrush line and rail connections, bags of character, and rents below the inner London average." He added: "In the knowledge that sky-high housing and living costs might mean they're sharing for years to come, flatsharers today are increasingly concerned about quality of life as well as affordability, and they're moving wherever can offer them the best of both, pushing up rents in the process."
Other southeast London postcodes with rent rises of over six per cent in the last year include SE27 (West Norwood), SE24 (Herne Hill), SE18 (Plumstead), SE28 (Thamesmead), SE22 (Dulwich) and SE17 (Walworth).
Postcodes Getting Cheaper
Some areas have experienced larger than average drops in rent. In N10 (Muswell Hill), a room now costs £884pcm, down from £998pcm at the same time last year – a fall of 11.4 per cent. SE25 (Norwood) has seen rents go down by 7.2 per cent, from £866pcm to £804pcm. In E12 (Manor Park), NW5 (Kentish Town), N13 (Palmers Green) and N19 (Upper Holloway), rents have also reduced by more than five per cent. However, lower rents do not necessarily mean affordability. In Kentish Town, for example, a room now costs £74 less than last year, but at £1,038pcm, rents are still £61 per month more than the northwest London average. Similarly, in N5 (Highbury), the average room is £54 cheaper than last year but still costs £1,006pcm.
