Any member of Generation Rent knows that the monthly cost of a room can vary dramatically from region to region. And a recent study found that many young people can no longer afford to live in cities where salaries are higher – which is, obviously, an incredibly unfair state of affairs.
So now, more than ever, it pays to be super clued-up about how the rental market is operating all over the UK. According to SpareRoom's latest Rental Index, room rents are up just 1% year-on-year – though in London, they've climbed at a much higher rate: 4% in the last 12 months.
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It's little wonder, therefore, that London's Mayor Sadiq Khan is putting his weight behind introducing a system of rent control in the capital.
But perhaps surprisingly, London isn't actually the most expensive place in the UK to rent. The average monthly room rent in Guernsey comes in at £796 – £14 more than the London average of £782.
Across the UK overall, the average room rent now comes in at £600, inclusive of bills. The cheapest rents can be found in Galashiels, Scotland (£303), Bangor, Northern Ireland (£318) and Craigavon, Northern Ireland (£320).
Check out how rents vary from region to region in the graphic below.
SpareRoom's Rental Index is based on nearly 300,000 rental listings, so it gives a pretty accurate overview of the UK rental market. It's also bang up-to-date as it uses data from rooms listed between July and September of this year.
Matt Hutchinson of SpareRoom said in response to the latest findings: "Despite repeated warnings that the tenancy fees ban would drive rents up, so far that’s not been the case. Even with July, August and September being the busiest months for new tenancies we haven’t seen a significant bump in rents. It’s still early days but, for now, tenants will be breathing a sigh of relief."
Check out the average rents in the UK's 50 biggest towns and cities – and how they've increased or decreased over the last 12 months – in the table below.