SpareRoom’s Q4 2019 rental index - based on nearly 250,000 room listings - reveals that the average monthly UK room rent (excluding London) has increased by 2% (£484) compared to this time last year. In contrast, the capital’s rents haven’t moved year-on-year – quite a difference to the 4% increase seen last quarter (Q3 2019 vs Q3 2018).

North West England and Northern Ireland have seen the largest rent increases over the past year (3%), however, even with this rise Northern Ireland continues to be the cheapest region to rent in the UK (£365). At the other end of the scale, the South East currently holds the top spot for the most expensive region in the UK to rent a room (£528), followed by East Anglia (£493) and Scotland (£480).

Taking a closer look at the capital, south east London continues to be the cheapest area to rent (average rent of £727) and unsurprisingly west central and east central come in top as the most expensive postcode districts in London (£1,076 and £1,007 respectively). The NW postcode district has experienced the biggest drop across the capital, down 2%, whilst EC has seen the biggest increase, up 5%. EC3 (Aldgate), has seen the highest increase in rent across the whole city, up a massive 20% to £1,082.