With the rental market seeing some big changes this year, it can be hard to keep on top of what’s going on. To help make sense of it, we've crunched the numbers and put together a simple summary of what's happening in the UK rental market right now.

Average rents in the UK

UK room rents have hit yet another new high, averaging £769 per month. South West England has seen the biggest increase over the last year (+2.3%), and room rents are at an all-time high in every region except Greater London and North East England.

Why are rents still climbing in England?

In May this year, the Renters’ Rights Act rolled out across England bringing in big changes for both renters and landlords in a bid to make renting more fair. By no coincidence, our Q3 data shows that rental supply fell -4.7% compared to the same time last year. We suspect there are two main reasons behind this change:

Shrinking supply - More landlords have chosen to take their properties off the market, meaning those looking for a room to rent have less available to choose from.

Higher asking prices - Rents are rising, not just because supply is down, but also because a knock-on effect of banning bidding wars is that asking rents are being set higher.

The most (and least) expensive UK cities

Finding an affordable room is getting tougher. Unsurprisingly, London tops the list of the most expensive cities to rent in with average rents hitting £1,002 (see more on London rents here).

Outside of the capital, Edinburgh takes second place (£894), followed by Oxford (£834). We agree, these prices are pretty eye-watering, but the good news is there are still plenty of great UK cities where rents are much kinder on your bank balance.

Here’s a look at the top 30 cities, ranked from cheapest to most expensive, so you can see how your rent stacks up: