Although UK room rents hit a record high of £753 per month in Q3 2025, up 28.3% from five years earlier, according to SpareRoom.

Nationwide, renters saw marginal year-on-year average increases of less than 1% in each quarter while London renters saw some marginal decreases, down 0.9% annually in Q4 2025, as demand returned to pre-pandemic levels. They were only 0.8% higher across the whole of the UK than the corresponding quarter in 2024 and subsequently fell by 0.5% in Q4 2025.

Matt Hutchinson, director of flatshare site SpareRoom, said: “Flatlining rents in 2025 don't help the tenant who goes into the red every month because they're paying half their salary to their landlord, and can't find anything more affordable. And as long as demand outweighs supply, rents won't fall.

“It's a crisis that's pushing more flatsharers out of cities. Zoom in on suburbia, where renters must weigh up slightly more affordable rents against more expensive commutes, and rents are rising faster than average, fuelled by intense demand.”

The total number of flatshare ads only grew by 4.1% between 2024 and 2025, compared to 17.7% growth between 2023 and 2024. Potentially because due to the lack of affordable rented fuelled a trend called 'flathugging', with 56% of UK renters staying put in their current rental properties despite wanting to move, with almost three quarters citing available housing being out of budget as a reason. 

Hutchinson said: “With supply under threat in 2026, the Government needs to recognise the critical role lodger landlords play in alleviating the housing crisis. They contribute a quarter of total supply to the flatshare market, helping balance demand and supply and curbing rent rises. Smart tweaks to the Rent a Room scheme would encourage more people to rent out some of the estimated 28 million empty bedrooms in England, Wales and Scotland to lodgers.”