Suburban areas are seeing high demand from renters, driven by the relative affordability of areas like Epsom, Twickenham and Kingston upon Thames, SpareRoom research shows.
Once popular among growing families, these areas are now sought after by those sharing in the rental market too.
London room rents have fallen 1% year-on-year and now average £982 per month.
It’s a similar story in Birmingham, the UK’s second largest city, where rents have dropped by 4% amidst high demand for rooms in commuter towns, including Smethwick and Solihull.
Matt Hutchinson, director at flatshare site SpareRoom, said: “In major cities like London and Birmingham, rents have flatlined, and even marginally decreased, as the record spike in demand we saw post pandemic finally subsides.
“Essentially, these cities have become too expensive and people who have the option to work remotely can live where commutes are longer but rents are cheaper.
“But zoom out and view the rental market over years, not months, and it’s still trending upwards. What we never see are sustained decreases taking rents down to affordable levels. Rents go up, then flatline at the new level for a while.
“They never seem to come down by much. Wage increases have never kept pace with rent rises, or the spiralling cost of living, so the affordability gap gets ever wider. While there are more people searching for somewhere to live than rooms available, rents will keep heading north.”
Of the UK’s 50 largest towns and cities, Blackpool has seen the biggest year-on-year increase in rents, up 9%, followed by Southend-on-Sea, up 6%. Ipswich, Newcastle and Oxford have all seen 5% increases.
Meanwhile, Bolton, Bradford, Edinburgh, Nottingham have all seen rents fall by 3% year on year.
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