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Average Rent in the UK 2024

With average private rents in England reaching £906 a month per household in 2023, it's no surprise that housing costs are one of your biggest budget items. We took a deep dive into rental costs statistics from Gov.uk to learn more about rents depending on where you live, your age, and your type of household (e.g., single person, couple, family, etc.). We also looked at average rent deposits and fees. Here's what we found.

Average Rental Prices in the UK

According to NimbleFins analysis of official data, the average rental cost in the UK is now £954 a month per household for private renters and £484 for social renters (that is, local authority and housing association accommodation).

This number (i.e., the "average") is skewed on the high side by those paying very high rents, for instance in London. For that reason it's also useful to look at the median. The median is the midpoint so half of renters pay more than the midpoint and half pay less—therefore this figure can better reflect "typical" rental costs and is typically lower than the average. The median monthly rent in the UK is £789 for private renters and £443 for social renters.

Average UK Rent Cost, Weekly and Monthly

How Much is Rent in the UK?Social RentersPrivate Renters
WeeklyMedian (Half of people spend more, half less)£102£182
Average£112£220
MonthlyMedian (Half of people spend more, half less)£443£789
Average£484£954
Chart showing the average cost of rent prices in the UK
On average, private renters in England pay £906 a month while social renters pay £459.

Renters who take out contents insurance should budget another £10 or so a month to protect their possessions from perils like fire, flood and theft—buying your own contents insurance is critical because your landlord's insurance won't usually cover your personal belongings.

Note, the data in this article uses official 2021/2022 data that we adjusted upwards by inflation rates for private rentals from July 2022 to July 2023 of 5.3%.

Average Rent by Household Type

People with no dependent children who rent privately pay an average of £935 per month for rent, while those with at least one dependent child pay an average of £990 per month (that's an extra £55 per month for the kids).

Fully employed people generally pay more than the unemployed, as you can see in the table below. But of those living in social housing, some unemployed people are paying more than fully-employed people.

Average UK Rent for Single People, Couples and FamiliesAll Social RentersPrivate Renters
averagemedianaveragemedian
no dependent children£465£429£935£763
at least one dependent child£524£474£990£801
receives housing support£483£434£900£731
does not receive housing support£485£452£972£790
full-time work£496£460£984£816
unemployed£501£438£751£627
Chart showing the average cost of rent prices in the UK
Households made of single sharers typically pay the most.

Average Rent by Age

The age group paying the most for rent per household is 16 to 24 year olds, who pay an average of £1,142 a month for privately-rented housing in England. The rental cost figure for this age group is so high because it reflects multiple single adults sharing a house or flat—this type of household pays the highest price for rent in England. In addition, this age group finds renting the least affordable—that is, 16 to 24 year olds spend the highest proportion of their income on rent.

It's a different story among social renters, where 35 to 44 year olds pay the most—£515 a month on average.

Average UK Rent by Age, per householdAll Social RentersPrivate Renters
age of HRPaveragemedianaveragemedian
16-24£514£458£1,142£948
25-34£499£438£968£790
35-44£515£456£985£816
45-54£487£456£898£730
55-64£459£429£768£651
65 or over£440£418£688£617
Chart showing the average cost of rent by age
On average, young, private renters pay the highest rents in England.

Average Rent by Region

Renters in the North East pay the least for housing, whether they live in social or private accommodation. In fact, private renters in the North East pay 40% less than the average private rent in England; social renters pay 21% less than average. The average monthly rent in the North East is £576 for private renters.

Not surprisingly, renters pay the most in London where the average monthly rent is £1,615. In the capital, private rental prices are 69% higher than the English average and social rental prices are 33% higher than average.

Average Rent by Region of EnglandAll Social RentersPrivate Renters
averagemedianaveragemedian
North East£380£367£576£523
North West£413£401£604£578
Yorkshire and the Humber£404£390£591£548
East Midlands£407£394£663£631
West Midlands£428£411£711£686
East£482£455£899£839
London£645£571£1,615£1,507
South East£538£522£1,003£943
South West£447£432£761£754
Average£484£441£953£790
Chart showing the average rent by region in England
Londoners in privately-renting housing pay 71% more than average.

Average Rent per Week

While the average rent per week in England is £112 pw for social renters and £220 pw for private renters, rent prices vary be a number of factors. Here is a recap of average weekly rents across different types of households (e.g., no kids, kids, employment, etc.), ages and regions.

Average Weekly Rent UK, per householdSocial RentersPrivate Renters
no dependent children£107£216
at least one dependent child£121£229
receives housing support£111£208
does not receive housing support£112£224
full-time work£115£227
unemployed£116£173
by age
16-24 years old£119£264
25-34 years old£115£223
35-44 years old£119£227
45-54 years old£112£207
55-64 years old£106£177
65 or over£101£159
by region
North East£88£133
Yorkshire and the Humber£95£139
East Midlands£93£136
West Midlands£94£153
North West£99£164
South West£111£207
East£149£373
South East£124£231
London£103£176
Average£112£220

Average Rent per Month

While the average rent per month in England is £465 pcm for social renters and £935 pcm for private renters, rent prices vary be a number of factors. Here is a recap of average monthly rents across different types of households (e.g., family with and without kids, employment, etc.), ages and regions.

Average Monthly Rent UK, per householdSocial RentersPrivate Renters
no dependent children£465£935
at least one dependent child£524£990
receives housing support£483£900
does not receive housing support£485£972
full-time work£496£984
unemployed£501£751
by age
16-24 years old£514£1,142
25-34 years old£499£968
35-44 years old£515£985
45-54 years old£487£898
55-64 years old£459£768
65 or over£440£688
by region
North East£380£576
Yorkshire and the Humber£413£604
East Midlands£404£591
West Midlands£407£663
North West£428£711
South West£482£899
East£645£1,615
South East£538£1,003
London£447£761
Average£484£953

How Much is a Rental Deposit?

The average rental deposit in the UK is at least four weeks of rent. In fact, nearly half (48.8%) of households pay four weeks or one calendar month of rent. Another 39.4% of renters are asked to pay a deposit of more than four weeks of rent. Just 11.8% of households who rent pay three weeks or less as a deposit.

Average Rental Deposit UK
Less than one weeks rent2.7%
One weeks rent (up to two weeks rent)2.7%
Two weeks rent (up to three weeks rent)3.0%
Three weeks rent (up to four weeks rent)3.3%
Four weeks rent/one calendar months rent48.8%
More than four weeks rent39.4%
Total100.0%
Chart showing the average rent deposit in the UK
Most households pay a rental deposit of at least 4 weeks rent.

How Much are a Rental Fees?

In England, 55% of renters don't pay any fees—but the other 45% do pay fees. How much are rent fees, and where do they go? Let's take a look.

It's most common for renters in England to pay between £200 and £300 in rental fees; and average rental fees are in the region of £300. However, there's a wide range in rental fees in the UK—13.4% of renters pay under £100 in fees while 12.2% pay £500 or more.

Percentage of Renters Paying This Much in Fees
less than £10013.4%
£100 to less than £20025.8%
£200 to less than £30023.7%
£300 to less than £40018.4%
£400 to less than £5006.6%
£500 or more12.2%
Chart showing the average rent fees in the UK
It's common to pay £200 to £300 in rent fees.

Most common are admin fees, followed by finders fees and holding fees. The majority of holding fees are non returnable.

Percentage of Renters Paying Fees
Admin fee (non returnable)61.2%
Finders fee (non returnable)33.0%
Holding fee (non returnable)9.2%
Holding fee (returnable)3.9%
Other fees3.5%
Chart showing the most common rent fees in the UK: admin fees, finders fees and holding fees
Admin fees are the most commonly paid by renters.

FAQs

The average council house rent (i.e., local authority) is £90 a week or £390 a month per household. Housing association rent is £98 a week or £425 a month on average.

The average private rent in England is £200 a week or £868 a month. Social renters pay an average of £102 a week or £442 a month.

The average London household pays £1,480 a month in rent (£341 a week). While rents in some areas are exceptionally high, half of London households pay under £682 a month (£157 a week). These figures reflect private renters. Social rents in London are around 62% lower on average.

Rent fees range from £0 to over £500, with most renters paying just under £300 in fees (most of which are "admin").

In England, nearly all renters pay 4 weeks of rent/one calendar month or more. See more rent deposit figures here.

In the past ten years, private rents in England have increased 31%, or roughly 3% per year. (Social rents have increased 44% over the same time period, or around 4.4% a year.) Landlords can only increase rent as laid out in your tenancy agreement.

Methodology

To arrive at the figures in this study we anaylsed data from the English Housing Survey 2018-19 from Gov.uk. Please note, the rent figures discussed in this study are per household not per person.

Comments

The guidance on this site is based on our own analysis and is meant to help you identify options and narrow down your choices. We do not advise or tell you which product to buy; undertake your own due diligence before entering into any agreement. Read our full disclosure here.