With news that London rent prices have dropped in lockdown, we reckon it’s time to take an updated look at the cheapest areas to rent in the UK’s capital city… and the most expensive, because it’s both fun and painful to look at fancy places we’d never be able to afford.
SpareRoom has just released its quarterly rental index, which along with revealing that London’s average rents have dropped by 7% (seems small, but that’s actually quite a significant dip), also highlights the cheapest and priciest areas to rent in the city.
While London still remains tonnes more expensive than UK areas outside the city (seriously, wait ’til you see the cheapest places to rent around the country. The average monthly cost will make Londoners weep), there are postcodes within London where rent is slightly more affordable.
As you’d probably expect, those areas tend to be further outside the centre, with the cheapest average rent to be found in N18 (Upper Edmonton) at £538 a month in the second quarter of 2020.
Next on the list of the least expensive areas is SE2 (Abbey Wood) at £547 a month, followed by E6 (East Ham) at £551 a month.
The least expensive areas in London to rent in 2020 and their average monthly rent:
- N18 (Upper Edmonton): £538 a month
- SE2 (Abbey Wood): £547 a month
- E6 (East Ham): £551 a month
- E12 (Manor Park): £559 a month
- N9 (Lower Edmonton): £560 a month
- E7 (Forest Gate): £560 a month
- N21 (Winchmore Hill): £569 a month
- E13 (Plaistow): £576 a month
- SE28 (Thamesmead): £578 a month
- SE12 (Lee): £595 a month
It’s worth noting that these are averages pulled only from data from the second quarter of 2020 and from the room ads for shared accommodation on SpareRoom.
If you have your heart set on renting your own place, obviously that’s likely to be much more expensive than a room in a shared property.
And on the flip side, it’s very possible to find cheaper shared rooms within these areas and in other spots around London.
Not to brag, but a couple years back I paid £480 a month for a room in a houseshare in Tooting. So it’s worth having a proper dig around the listings to find the best deal.
Anyway, that’s the cheapest places sorted. Now let’s look at the most expensive areas to rent in London.
EC4 (St Paul’s) tops that list, with the average monthly rent coming in at £1,316, followed by SW7 (South Kensington/Knightsbridge) at £1,110 a month, then WC2 (Strand/Holborn) at £1,048 a month.
The most expensive areas in London to rent in 2020 and their average monthly rent:
- EC4 (St Paul’s): £1,316 a month
- SW7 (South Kensington/Knightsbridge): £1,110 a month
- WC2 (Strand/Holborn): £1,048 a month
- SW3 (Chelsea): £1,033 a month
- W1 (West End/Soho): £995 a month
- EC3 (Aldgate): £991 a month
- SW5 (Earl’s Court/West Brompton): £969 a month
- SW10 (West Brompton/Chelsea): £956 a month
- EC2 (Bishopsgate/Cheapside): £941 a month
- SW1 (Westminster/Belgravia/Pimlico): £928 a month
Just a heads up that outside of London, the cheapest average rent going is just £314 a month in Craigavon.
Citydwellers, you may proceed to question why we’re doing this to ourselves.
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