The cost of renting a room in London has increased dramatically since the pandemic, leaving renters with fewer affordable options and forcing many workers and students to rethink where they can afford to live.
According to SpareRoom’s Quarterly Rental Index, the average advertised monthly rent for a room in London has risen from £728 in the first quarter of 2020 to £978 in the first quarter of 2026, an increase of around 37% over five years.
The figures cover advertised room rents across London’s E, EC, N, NW, SE, SW, W and WC postcode areas and include household bills.
Although rental prices have recently shown signs of stabilising, they remain far above pre-pandemic levels. After reaching a record £1,015 per month in the final quarter of 2023, the London average fell slightly to £978 in the first quarter of 2026, down just 0.5% compared with a year earlier.
However, the slowdown in price growth has done little to improve affordability.
The number of lower-cost neighbourhoods has fallen sharply. In the first quarter of 2020, 81 London postcode districts recorded average monthly room rents below £800. By the first quarter of 2026, only five remained below that threshold: East Ham, Manor Park, Chingford, Upper Edmonton and Forest Gate.
Although the rental market has shown some signs of stabilising in recent periods, prices remain high compared with previous years. As a result, many tenants are choosing to move to outer areas of London or opt for shared housing to reduce expenses.
Among them is Emily D., a marketing assistant in London, who says rising rents have directly influenced her housing choices.
“With rents going up, I was essentially forced to move further out of central London,” she said. “Living in the city centre had become too expensive compared with my salary, so I decided to move to an area that is further away but more affordable.”
Property experts say the trend is mainly driven by strong demand and a limited supply of rental properties, factors that continue to shape the London housing market.
Like many renters, Emily now faces a longer commute in exchange for lower housing costs, a trade-off becoming increasingly common as affordable options in central London disappear.
Property experts attribute the trend largely to the imbalance between demand and supply. Although demand for rooms in London fell by 12% over the year to the first quarter of 2026 and the supply of advertised rooms increased by 4.8%, the market remains considerably more expensive than before the pandemic.
Rental costs also continue to vary significantly across the capital. In the first quarter of 2026, the average advertised room rent reached £1,572 per month in SW7, covering South Kensington and Knightsbridge. By contrast, renters in E6, East Ham, paid an average of £727, creating a difference of £845 per month between the two areas.
As a result, rental prices in the capital have increased significantly over the past few years, with many workers and students adjusting their living arrangements accordingly, often moving to less central areas or choosing shared accommodation.
Featured image: photo by Bethany Opler on Unsplash
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