Congratulations renters, you survived another year! Between the rising cost of living, high demand for rooms, and increasing rents, we know it hasn’t been easy. But could things be looking up for the new year? (We think so!) Here's a breakdown of what happened at the end of 2024 and what it might mean for 2025…
Rising rents across the UK are slowing
In the final quarter of 2024, the average UK room rent increased by just 1% compared to the same time last year - from £738 to £774. While an increase might not seem like a positive sign, the rate rents are rising is slowing down (compared to the rapid hikes we saw after the pandemic in 2021), which is good news.
- No UK region has seen increases above 5%.
- Bootle (£447), Barnsley (£465) and Bradford (£473) are currently the cheapest towns to rent in
- Outside London, the most expensive towns to rent a room are Twickenham (£928), Kingston-upon-Thames (£920), and Epsom (£855).
Check out the full list of average rents in UK towns and cities HERE.
London rent decreased
London renters, take a breather—the capital's rents dropped 2% in Q4 2024 from £1,015 to £993, marking the first decrease in rent (compared to the year previous), since 2021. Rents consistently declined across all four quarters last year, and some postcodes saw dramatic drops:
- SW1 (Westminster / Belgravia / Pimlico), -13%
- SE21 (Dulwich), -10%
- SW3 (Chelsea) and E8 (Dalston), -9%
While this doesn’t mean renting in London is cheap, if this trend continues into the new year, Londoners should feel optimistic.
See the full list of average rents in London HERE.
What does this mean for 2025?
With average rents falling in the capital and increases slowing across the country, there’s hopefully some light at the end of the tunnel. However, there’s still a long way to go before we can call rents genuinely affordable. This cooling in the market should hopefully give some confidence that the market is slowly but surely turning itself around.