The SpareRoom online service has drawn up what it calls an affordability guide, which is effectively a league table of room rents in 50 major UK towns and cities.
All 50 locations have seen an increase in demand year-on-year.
Brighton has seen the biggest increase in demand against supply in the past year, up a startling 101 per cent, followed by Poole and Edinburgh, both increasing by 81 per cent. It’s a similar story across London too, with demand vs supply up 71 per cent.
Currently average room rents range from under £400 to almost £900 a month.
Matt Hutchinson, SpareRoom director, comments: "The past 18 months have totally changed our attitudes to work. Some jobs we were told simply weren’t suitable for remote working have proved to work just fine from home. That means people can now choose a place to live because it suits their lifestyle, not just because the commute is convenient.
“The coming months will definitely hold some changes in terms of how and where we want to live. That could be great news for some towns and cities, that have historically suffered from a skills drain, as young people head for bigger cities.
“We may find, when we look back on this period, that Covid and remote working did more to rebalance the economy across the UK than any government initiative did. It might just be one of the positive changes to come out of what’s been a tough 18 months.”
SpareRoom data:
Under £400 per month
Town
|
Average rent
|
Aberdeen
|
£395
|
Belfast
|
£377
|
Blackpool
|
£397
|
Bradford
|
£364
|
Huddersfield
|
£365
|
Hull
|
£390
|
Liverpool
|
£395
|
Middlesbrough
|
£349
|
Newcastle Upon Tyne
|
£397
|
Stoke-on-Trent
|
£384
|
Sunderland
|
£350
|
Wolverhampton
|
£390
|
£400 to £500 per month
Town
|
Average rent
|
Birmingham
|
£405
|
Bolton
|
£408
|
Cardiff
|
£446
|
Coventry
|
£441
|
Derby
|
£418
|
Dundee
|
£441
|
Glasgow
|
£478
|
Gloucester
|
£426
|
Ipswich
|
£454
|
Leeds
|
£442
|
Leicester
|
£442
|
Luton
|
£465
|
Manchester
|
£478
|
Northampton
|
£472
|
Norwich
|
£460
|
Nottingham
|
£457
|
Peterborough
|
£465
|
Plymouth
|
£431
|
Portsmouth
|
£485
|
Sheffield
|
£409
|
Southampton
|
£484
|
Swansea
|
£414
|
Swindon
|
£474
|
Telford
|
£408
|
Warrington
|
£421
|
£500 to £600 per month
Town
|
Average rent
|
Bournemouth
|
£508
|
Brighton
|
£593
|
Bristol
|
£548
|
Cambridge
|
£584
|
Edinburgh
|
£540
|
Milton Keynes
|
£524
|
Poole
|
£512
|
Reading
|
£541
|
Slough
|
£549
|
Southend-on-Sea
|
£523
|
York
|
£539
|
£600 to £700 per month
Town
|
Average rent
|
London – East
|
£677
|
London – North
|
£676
|
London – South East
|
£691
|
Oxford
|
£602
|
£700 to £800 per month
Town
|
Average rent
|
London – North West
|
£706
|
London – South West
|
£749
|
London – West
|
£752
|
£800 to £900 per month
Town
|
Average rent
|
London – East Central
|
£813
|
London – West Central
|
£889
|
|
|
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