You now need a £40,000 salary to rent a room in London

The average room in inner London now costs £1,002 a month. Flatshare site SpareRoom published the figure on Wednesday (7 October), showing rents rose 2.3% on the previous quarter and 1.1% year on year in the third quarter of 2026.

The new average sits just £1 below the record of £1,003 that inner London set in the fourth quarter of 2023.

“With average rents now into four figures, to affordably rent an average room in a London flatshare people will need a gross salary of at least £40K,” said Matt Hutchinson, director at SpareRoom.

“That excludes many, including some essential and service workers, and young people starting their careers,” he added.

SpareRoom said the number of rooms available to rent fell 7.3% year on year in inner London and 1.7% in outer London.

Rent in outer London held steady at an average of £800 a month, down 0.2% on last year.

Across Greater London, the average room now costs £932 a month after a 0.6% annual rise.

East London remains the cheapest postcode area at £958 a month, and it also recorded the smallest annual rise at 0.4%.

South-west London now averages £1,065 a month after a 2.4% rise, the highest rent the area has ever recorded.

North, south-east, west and west-central London also hit record highs this quarter.

West-central London saw the sharpest change of any area, with rents up 7.3% to £1,464 and supply down 30.1%.

The EC area recorded a 5.2% rise to £1,289 a month, while its supply of rooms fell 11.3%.

The most and least expensive postcodes

SW7, which covers South Kensington and Knightsbridge, is the most expensive postcode in London at £1,682 a month.

That is more than double the cost of a room in E12 Manor Park, the cheapest postcode at £752 a month.

Six inner London postcodes still have average room rents below £800 a month:

• E12 (Manor Park) at £752
• E6 (East Ham) at £755
• N21 (Winchmore Hill) at £761
• E7 (Forest Gate) at £781
• E13 (Plaistow) at £789
• N9 (Lower Edmonton) at £790

Where rents are rising fastest

Chelsea recorded the biggest annual increase, with the average room in SW3 rising 16.6% to £1,472 a month.

The five postcodes with the steepest rises were:

• SW3 (Chelsea), up 16.6% to £1,472
• SW7 (South Kensington/Knightsbridge), up 13.3% to £1,682
• SW5 (Earl’s Court/West Brompton), up 12.4% to £1,397
• SE19 (Crystal Palace), up 11.7% to £923
• SE17 (Walworth), up 11.1% to £1,132

Rents fell in some postcodes, led by N21 Winchmore Hill, where the average room dropped 17% from £917 to £761 a month.

Holland Park (W8) fell 7.1% to £1,340, Totteridge and Whetstone (N20) fell 6.3% to £860, and Notting Hill (W11) fell 5.3% to £1,117.

“Choked supply increases rents, so tumbling rental stock in the capital should concern everyone, as should the absence of any plan to improve the situation,” said Hutchinson.

“The Government must acknowledge the problem and do everything in its power to encourage and incentivise new supply,” he said.

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