There are now only five postcodes in London which still have average room rents below £800pcm, down from 81 postcodes in 2020, according to SpareRoom.

The average room rent for London is now £978 per month, down 0.5% on the previous year, however this doesn’t reflect what’s going on at postcode level. The outliers which have seen the highest year-on-year rent rises include W8 (Holland Park), NW7 (Mill Hill), SE4 (Brockley) and SE19 (Crystal Palace).

Matt Hutchinson, director at flatshare site SpareRoom, said: “Rents in the capital have been flatlining for a while. While this is clearly better than the years of uplifts that came before, it’s hardly a dream scenario. Years of intense demand on London’s limited rental stock has inflated prices and made cheap rents all too scarce. Falling demand and slightly increased supply points to more renters being priced out of inner London, which is why we’re still seeing heightened demand in the suburbs and commuter belt. 

“In reality, there’s no such thing as cheap housing in London now. If you do manage to find a room at £800 per month – and these are increasingly endangered – you’d still need to be earning a salary of £32,000 a year to afford the rent. This is over and above what many people in the capital earn, especially those just starting their careers.”

Demand for rooms in the capital has dropped 12% on the previous year, whilst room supply has increased by 4.8%. The cheapest rents are available in E6 (East Ham), E12 (Manor Park), E4 (Chingford), N18 (Upper Edmonton), and E7 (Forest Gate).