A new month begins and you wipe the sweat from your brow, yet again. You did it. You managed to pay rent in London for another month. You’ve still got a roof – albeit it one covered in damp – over your head and a 1 and 1/2 sized bed to sleep in. This is the life; the London life anyway. Nowhere in London is ‘cheap’, but Spareroom’s report in the second quarter of this year shows us the areas that are cheaper. It also shows us the areas we should keep our direct debits far away from.
According to the report, the least expensive postcode area to rent a room in London is SE9 Eltham, followed by E12 Manor Park and E4 Chingford, in all of which the average rent is under £545 a month. So East London is definitely winning the cheap rent game. Not one postcode area in West London has an average rent of below £600 a month, surprise surprise. But it’s EC4 St Paul’s, that pricey bullseye in the middle, that takes the prize for most expensive rent in the capital, with an average double bedroom costing £1153 a month.
In terms of price change, obviously these results don’t take into account the full effects of Brexit. Between now and 2015, rent has actually risen the fastest between Q2 of 2015 and Q2 of 2016 in Abbey Wood (it’s gone up by 21%), shortly followed by the laaaarvly Barnes areas, which has risen by 20%. Ye-ouch.
How does the rent in your area compare with the average? To see Spareroom’s full report, click here.