Table of Contents
- The cheapest cities to rent in the UK
- The UK cities with the most affordable rent (and least)
- The cheapest rent by region & country
- The very lowest rents in the UK
- Are rents falling?
- The highest rents in the UK
- The cheapest areas to rent in London
- Is it better to rent a house or buy?
- What do experts think about the rental market?
- UK rental market forecasts
- Cheapest UK Rent FAQs
Finding a place to live in the UK can be challenging. Buyers will always have an eye on mortgage rates and house prices, while tenants can usually do little but watch as rents continue to rise. However, some parts of the UK are cheaper to rent than others.
The cheapest cities to rent in the UK
The major city with the cheapest rent in the UK is Kingston upon Hull, where the average rent was £627 a month in December 2024. The next cheapest city for renters is Stoke-on-Trent, at £641 per month, followed by Bradford, at £695 a month.
| Annual change | Average rent (per month) | |
|---|---|---|
| Kingston upon Hull | +10.1% | £627 |
| Stoke-on-Trent | +10.3% | £641 |
| Bradford | +6.6% | £695 |
| Derby | +11.2% | £804 |
| Liverpool | +9.7% | £819 |
| Wolverhampton | +10.7% | £824 |
| Sheffield | +7.0% | £871 |
| Plymouth | +7.3% | £926 |
| Nottingham | +8.3% | £944 |
| Leicester | +11.4% | £966 |
| Coventry | +8.8% | £985 |
| Northampton | +8.2% | £1,015 |
| Newcastle upon Tyne | +5.9% | £1,022 |
Source: Office for National Statistics (ONS). Private rent and house prices, UK: January 2025. The ONS classifies a city as being major if it has a population of at least 200,000. Luton, Northampton and Reading are designated as towns but may feature due to having populations above 200,000. ONS does not have data for Belfast.
The UK cities with the most affordable rent (and least)
Bradford is the major UK city where rent is most affordable to the average local salary. On average, tenants in Bradford spend just over a quarter (25.7%) of their wages on rent each month. Bristol is the least affordable place to rent, with a typical tenant spending well over half (57.4%) of their monthly salary on rent.
The cheapest rent by region & country
The cheapest region to rent in the UK is the North East, where the average rent cost £706 per month in December 2024. Yorkshire & the Humber has the next lowest rents at £805 per month, followed by the East Midlands at £856.
In Great Britain, Wales has the lowest average rent at £777 per month. The average rent in England is £1,369 per month, and in Scotland it is £991 per month.
The very lowest rents in the UK
The place in the UK with the cheapest rent away from the major cities is Dumfries and Galloway in Scotland, where average rent is £499 per month. Hartlepool has the next lowest rents at £535 per month, followed by Powys in Wales at £558.
Are rents falling?
Average rents in the UK were 9.0% higher than a year earlier in December 2024, according to the Office for National Statistics. This is slightly down compared with the 9.1% year-on-year increase recorded in November. In England, rents are 9.2% higher compared with a year ago, in Wales they are 8.5% higher, and in Scotland they are 6.9% higher.
In England, rents are rising fastest in London, at 11.5% higher than a year ago. The next biggest annual increase is in the North West at 9.6%. Rents are rising slowest in Yorkshire and the Humber, at 5.4%.
The highest rents in the UK
The city with the highest rents in the UK is London, where the average monthly rent was £2,220 in December 2024. Of the major cities outside the capital, Brighton and Hove has the highest rent at £1,778 per month, followed by Bristol at £1,751 per month.
| Annual change | Average rent (per month) | |
|---|---|---|
| London | +11.5% | £2,220 |
| Brighton and Hove | +5.0% | £1,778 |
| Bristol | +2.8% | £1,751 |
| Reading | +11.7% | £1,512 |
| Lothian (Edinburgh) | +11.9% | £1,400 |
| Portsmouth | +6.8% | £1,309 |
| Manchester | +11.3% | £1,291 |
| Greater Glasgow | +0.5% | £1,199 |
| Southampton | +8.6% | £1,186 |
| Luton | +11.4% | £1,152 |
| Leeds | +3.0% | £1,097 |
| Norwich | +8.7% | £1,088 |
| Cardiff | +8.7% | £1,077 |
| Birmingham | +8.9% | £1,037 |
Source: Office for National Statistics (ONS). Private rent and house prices, UK: January 2025. The ONS classifies a city as being major if it has a population of at least 200,000. Luton, Northampton and Reading are designated as towns but may feature due to having populations above 200,000. ONS does not have data for Belfast.
The cheapest areas to rent in London
London is the city with the highest average rent in the UK. However, there are significant differences between rents depending on where in the capital you live.
The cheapest rent in London in December 2024 was in Bexley, costing renters on average £1,404 per month. The next cheapest London rent was in Havering (£1,449), Croydon (£1,480), and Sutton (£1,496). The highest rent in London is in Kensington and Chelsea, at £3,588 per month.
| Annual change | Average rent (per month) | |
|---|---|---|
| Bexley | +10.1% | £1,404 |
| Havering | +10.9% | £1,449 |
| Croydon | +9.8% | £1,480 |
| Sutton | +13.4% | £1,496 |
| Hillingdon | +10.5% | £1,498 |
| Barking and Dagenham | +10.3% | £1,514 |
| Bromley | +7.3% | £1,592 |
| Redbridge | +11.8% | £1,631 |
| Enfield | +10.3% | £1,657 |
| Harrow | +10.3% | £1,685 |
| Waltham Forest | +9.9% | £1,689 |
| Kingston upon Thames | +6.3% | £1,720 |
Source: Office for National Statistics (ONS). Private rent and house prices, UK: January 2025.
Is it better to rent a house or buy?
Whether renting or buying is right for you will depend on your circumstances and goals. Your financial situation and how long you plan on living in a certain area are usually a couple of key factors to consider.
Renting may give you more freedom to move, and may allow you to live in an area where you cannot afford to buy. However, you might not be allowed to make changes or redecorate the home as you would like because the property isn’t yours. Renting can also take a significant chunk out of your income making it harder to save a deposit if you want to buy eventually.
On the other hand, buying a home means the money you pay into a mortgage is benefitting you, instead of going to a landlord. However, the upfront costs of buying, particularly saving a deposit if you’re a first-time buyer, tend to be higher than if you rent. You’ll need to prove to a lender you can afford a mortgage to buy too.
» MORE: See current mortgage rates
What do experts think about the rental market?
Sarah Coles, Head of Personal Finance at Hargreaves Lansdown
“Renters were engulfed by more rent rise misery in December, pushing more of them to the brink. The rate of rises has eased very slightly, but that will come as no comfort to anyone facing a 9% overnight hike in the cost of keeping a roof over their head. Renters are less likely to have money left over at the end of the month than anyone else – at just £79 – which leaves them little room to cope. With no imminent solution to the imbalance in the rental market, for many people the only possible light at the end of the tunnel is the thought that one day they might own. This is easier said than done given the horrible cost of renting, which is why tenants have built less in savings than average. It means they need all the help they can get to build a deposit, whether that’s from family helping out or taking advantage of free money from the government through a Lifetime ISA.”
Stephen Perkins, Managing Director at Yellow Brick Mortgages
“Rents are still climbing to levels where tenants may need oxygen, putting further strain on many households. With the impact of the Budget still largely to come in April, arrears on both mortgages and rents may well skyrocket in the coming months.”
Jonathan Moser, CEO at Mo’Living
“Rents in the capital are not for the fainthearted. Sadly, the Renters Reform Bill is applying further upward pressure on rents as many landlords switch their properties into short-term lets ahead of the abolition of Section 21. This is removing even more stock from the market, which is the last thing it needs when supply is already so low. It’s also a myth to believe that those properties being sold by landlords exiting the sector are being snapped up by first-time buyers. In reality, professional portfolio investors are simply adding to their portfolios. With mortgage rates once again heading north, especially given the volatility in the markets over the past week or so, this is a further challenge for landlords looking to remortgage. Leveraged landlords have no option but to pass on those increases to their tenants.”
» MORE: What happened in the Autumn Budget 2024?
UK rental market forecasts
It is widely predicted that rents in the UK will continue to rise in 2025 and subsequent years. The forecasts below are from real estate advisors CBRE and JLL, and estate agents Savills.
| 2025 | 2026 | 2027 | |
| CBRE | +2.3% | +2.5% | +2.9% |
| JLL | +3.0% | +2.5% | +3.0% |
| Savills | +4.0% | +3.5% | +3.0% |
Cheapest UK Rent FAQs
Rent is cheapest in the North East at £706 per month in December 2024. The next cheapest rent in the UK is in Wales (£777), Yorkshire and the Humber (£805), and the East Midlands (£856). Rents in London (£2,220) and the South East (£1,351) are the most expensive.
The average cost of rent in the UK is £1,270 per month, according to Zoopla. Across the UK, it means average rents are 3.9% higher than a year ago.
There are no formal affordability rules for rent in the UK, but as a rough guide, some landlords like tenants to be earning at least 2.5 times the rent being charged. So for a property with a monthly rent of £1,000, ideally you would have a gross annual income of £30,000.
Renting means you avoid paying the upfront costs of buying, such as a deposit, stamp duty and mortgage and legal fees. However, as a renter, you can expect to pay a tenancy deposit, rent in advance, and potentially a holding deposit. According to Halifax, the monthly cost to a first-time buyer of owning a home is £1,231, slightly lower than the £1,258 it would cost to rent an equivalent property. However, this can differ depending on where you want to live.
The average cost of renting a flat in Great Britain was £1,296 in December 2024, according to the Office for National Statistics.
Generally, rent is considered to be affordable if it accounts for 30% or less of your pre-tax income.
Image source: Getty Images
About the Author
Dive even deeper
What Credit Score Do You Need for a Mortgage?
by Sam Bromley
Should I Get a Fixed or Variable Mortgage?
