Rents in London have dropped for the second consecutive quarter (Q1 and Q2 2024) new data from flatshare site SpareRoom reveals.

The biggest drops in the capital were seen in SW14Mortlake (down 9%), W8 Holland Park and NW5 Kentish Town (-7% respectively). Although London rents are up overall year-on-year (1%) the past six months has shown the start of a downward curve for the capital.

Between Q2 2021 and Q2 2024 rents rose on average by just under a third (29%) across the UK from £576 (Q2 2021) to £740 (Q2 2024).

Meanwhile, UK rents as a whole were up 5% year-on-year in Q2, remaining at the same level as Q1, with Kingston upon Thames (£898) taking first place for the most expensive town to rent, followed by Twickenham (£889) and Reigate (£845). 

Warrington (15%) saw the biggest jump in rental prices, followed by Bolton (14%) and Southend on sea (13%) over the last 12 months.

Matt Hutchinson, director at SpareRoom, comments: “As supply has risen over the past couple of years and demand has fallen from the 2022 record peak, we’re starting to see the market slowly rebalance. 

“However, although this is a welcome sign, the extent to which rents have risen in the past three years is shocking and there’s still a long, long way to go.

“The cost of living and chronic housing shortage will have been on voters’ minds last week. The new government is already making it clear that housing is on the agenda from day one, so hopefully the result will be a more coherent housing policy that focuses on building more homes and also making better use of existing ones. 

“Despite average rents in London dropping for consecutive quarters, they’re still way beyond being affordable by any reasonable standard.”