The steepest room rent rises are in Scotland, northern England, and the Midlands, says SpareRoom.
Scotland’s average rent dropped slightly in Q4 (-0.2%).
But rises were seen in Perth (+7.4%), Paisley (+5.7%), Livingston (+6.7%) and Kirkcaldy (+6.1%).
Even so they remain considerably cheaper than Edinburgh (£778pm) and Glasgow (£690pm).
In the north of England, Lancashire town Burnley is the cheapest place to rent a room in the UK.
Almost half of the most popular towns and cities with fast-rising rents are in the North of England.
In the Midlands, Stourbridge (+17.7%) and Wolverhampton (+9.6%) are leading the charge on rent increases.
| City/Town | Average monthly room rent Q4 2025 | Average monthly room rent Q4 2024 | Year-on-year change | |
| 1 | Bootle | £527 | £447 | 18.0% |
| 2 | Stourbridge | £649 | £552 | 17.7% |
| 3 | Keighley | £598 | £525 | 14.0% |
| 4 | Widnes | £590 | £522 | 12.8% |
| 5 | Carlisle | £586 | £532 | 10.1% |
| 6 | Wolverhampton | £553 | £504 | 9.6% |
| 7 | Nuneaton | £560 | £512 | 9.3% |
| 8 | Dorchester | £645 | £592 | 8.8% |
| 9 | Taunton | £679 | £624 | 8.7% |
| 10 | Chesterfield | £553 | £511 | 8.3% |
| 11 | Durham | £638 | £594 | 7.5% |
| 12 | Sale | £671 | £624 | 7.5% |
| 13 | Southport | £583 | £543 | 7.4% |
| 14 | Margate | £655 | £610 | 7.4% |
| 15 | Perth | £546 | £509 | 7.4% |
| 16 | South Shields | £523 | £487 | 7.3% |
| 17 | Ellesmere Port | £605 | £566 | 7.0% |
| 18 | Livingston | £597 | £559 | 6.7% |
| 19 | Worcester | £597 | £561 | 6.4% |
| 20 | Bath | £832 | £783 | 6.3% |
| 21 | Kirkcaldy | £587 | £554 | 6.1% |
| 22 | Warrington | £613 | £579 | 5.9% |
| 23 | Tamworth | £590 | £557 | 5.9% |
| 24 | Dunstable | £660 | £624 | 5.8% |
| 25 | Barnsley | £492 | £465 | 5.7% |
| 26 | Paisley | £542 | £513 | 5.7% |
| 27 | Runcorn | £565 | £535 | 5.5% |
| 28 | Liverpool | £555 | £526 | 5.5% |
The table below shows the UK’s most and least expensive towns and cities outside of inner London:
| UK’s most expensive towns/cities | UK’s least expensive towns/cities | ||
| Town/City | Average monthly room rent Q4 2025 | Town/City | Average monthly room rent Q4 2025 |
| Kingston upon Thames | £922 | Burnley | £470 |
| Twickenham | £914 | Bradford | £472 |
| Barnet | £853 | Middlesbrough | £477 |
| Bath | £832 | Stockton-on-Tees | £482 |
| Oxford | £831 | Huddersfield | £485 |
| Croydon | £823 | Blackburn | £485 |
| Harrow | £821 | Craigavon (incl Lurgan & Portadown) | £490 |
| Enfield | £820 | Rotherham | £492 |
| Redhill | £818 | Barnsley | £492 |
| Benfleet | £815 | Darlington | £493 |
The table below shows UK average room rents by country/region and the YOY change:
| Country/Region | Average monthly room rent Q4 2025 | Average monthly room rent Q4 2024 | Year-on-year change |
| South West | £677 | £666 | 1.7% |
| East Midlands | £568 | £564 | 0.6% |
| West Midlands | £590 | £586 | 0.6% |
| East Anglia | £674 | £670 | 0.6% |
| North West | £613 | £609 | 0.5% |
| South East | £748 | £745 | 0.5% |
| North East | £555 | £553 | 0.4% |
| Wales | £589 | £588 | 0.2% |
| Yorkshire & Humberside | £557 | £557 | 0.0% |
| Scotland | £681 | £683 | -0.2% |
| Northern Ireland | £561 | £570 | -1.5% |
| London (inner) | £985 | £993 | -0.9% |
| UK | £749 | £745 | 0.5% |
| UK (excl London) | £670 | £664 | 0.9% |
This article is taken from Landlord Today