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Average Rent in the UK 2021
With average private rents in England reaching £868 a month per household in 2019, 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
The average rental cost in the UK is £868 a month per household for private renters and £442 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 £695 for private renters and £412 for social renters.
Average UK Rent Cost, Weekly and Monthly
| How Much is Rent in the UK? | Social Renters | Private Renters | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weekly | Median (Half of people spend more, half less) | £95 | £160 |
| Average | £102 | £200 | |
| Monthly | Median (Half of people spend more, half less) | £412 | £695 |
| Average | £442 | £868 | |
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.
Average Rent by Household Type
Single people living alone pay an average of £674 per month for rent. Couples without children pay £866 monthly on average, which is 28% more than a solo household.
Not surprisingly, rent becomes more expensive for households with children. Couples with dependent children pay £941 on average to their landlord each month (9% more than couples without kids). Single parents pay £764 on average for rent each month.
Single people living together in a shared household pay the highest rent per household (£1,354), but on a per-person basis adults in this living situation are likely pay less than average. For example, if two solo people are sharing a household that's equivalent to £677 a month, nearly the same as the rent for someone living alone. If three people are sharing a house, that brings the average rent down to £451 per person.
| Average UK Rent for Single People, Couples and Families | All Social Renters | Private Renters | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| average | median | average | median | |
| One person | £395 | £377 | £674 | £550 |
| Couple, no children | £437 | £416 | £866 | £725 |
| Couple, non-dep children only | £467 | £435 | £892 | £726 |
| Couple, dependent children | £489 | £450 | £941 | £800 |
| Lone parent, non-dependent children only | £473 | £433 | £649 | £550 |
| Lone parent, dependent children | £477 | £429 | £764 | £650 |
| Two or more families | £469 | £429 | £1,085 | £1,000 |
| Lone person sharing with other lone persons. | £512 | £433 | £1,354 | £1,268 |
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 £972 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—as shown in the previous section, 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—£483 a month on average.
| Average UK Rent by Age, per household | All Social Renters | Private Renters | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| average | median | average | median | |
| 16-24 | £421 | £382 | £972 | £783 |
| 25-34 | £440 | £412 | £867 | £695 |
| 35-44 | £483 | £446 | £913 | £777 |
| 45-54 | £461 | £429 | £825 | £674 |
| 55-64 | £433 | £410 | £850 | £628 |
| 65 or over | £412 | £394 | £653 | £555 |
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 £517 for private renters.
Not surprisingly, renters pay the most in London where the average monthly rent is £1,480. In the capital, private rental prices are 71% higher than the English average and social rental prices are 29% higher than average.
| Average Rent by UK Region | All Social Renters | Private Renters | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| median | average | median | average | |
| North East | £345 | £349 | £477 | £517 |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | £385 | £364 | £550 | £531 |
| East Midlands | £350 | £380 | £513 | £557 |
| West Midlands | £368 | £393 | £550 | £594 |
| North West | £387 | £393 | £592 | £611 |
| South West | £435 | £418 | £781 | £747 |
| East | £529 | £456 | £1,382 | £857 |
| South East | £468 | £490 | £875 | £936 |
| London | £410 | £569 | £682 | £1,480 |
| Average | £412 | £442 | £695 | £868 |
Average Rent per Week
While the average rent per week in England is £102 pw for social renters and £200 pw, rent prices vary be a number of factors. Here is a recap of average weekly rents across different types of households (e.g., single, couple, family, etc.), ages and regions.
| Average Weekly Rent UK, per household | Social Renters | Private Renters |
|---|---|---|
| One person | £91 | £156 |
| Couple, no children | £101 | £200 |
| Couple, non-dep children only | £108 | £206 |
| Couple, dependent children | £113 | £217 |
| Lone parent, non-dependent children only | £109 | £150 |
| Lone parent, dependent children | £110 | £176 |
| Two or more families | £108 | £250 |
| Lone person sharing with other lone persons. | £118 | £312 |
| by age | ||
| 16-24 | £97 | £224 |
| 25-34 | £101 | £200 |
| 35-44 | £111 | £211 |
| 45-54 | £106 | £190 |
| 55-64 | £100 | £196 |
| 65 or over | £95 | £151 |
| by region | ||
| North East | £81 | £119 |
| North West | £91 | £141 |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | £84 | £123 |
| East Midlands | £88 | £129 |
| West Midlands | £91 | £137 |
| East | £105 | £198 |
| London | £131 | £341 |
| South East | £113 | £216 |
| South West | £96 | £172 |
| Average | £102 | £200 |
Average Rent per Month
While the average rent per month in England is £442 pcm for social renters and £868 pcm, rent prices vary be a number of factors. Here is a recap of average monthly rents across different types of households (e.g., single, couple, family, etc.), ages and regions.
| Average Monthly Rent UK, per household | Social Renters | Private Renters |
|---|---|---|
| One person | £395 | £674 |
| Couple, no children | £437 | £866 |
| Couple, non-dep children only | £467 | £892 |
| Couple, dependent children | £489 | £941 |
| Lone parent, non-dependent children only | £473 | £649 |
| Lone parent, dependent children | £477 | £764 |
| Two or more families | £469 | £1,085 |
| Lone person sharing with other lone persons. | £512 | £1,354 |
| by age | ||
| 16-24 | £421 | £972 |
| 25-34 | £440 | £867 |
| 35-44 | £483 | £913 |
| 45-54 | £461 | £825 |
| 55-64 | £433 | £850 |
| 65 or over | £412 | £653 |
| by region | ||
| North East | £349 | £517 |
| North West | £393 | £611 |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | £364 | £531 |
| East Midlands | £380 | £557 |
| West Midlands | £393 | £594 |
| East | £456 | £857 |
| London | £569 | £1,480 |
| South East | £490 | £936 |
| South West | £418 | £747 |
| Average | £442 | £868 |
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 rent | 2.7% |
| 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 rent | 48.8% |
| More than four weeks rent | 39.4% |
| Total | 100.0% |
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 £100 | 13.4% |
| £100 to less than £200 | 25.8% |
| £200 to less than £300 | 23.7% |
| £300 to less than £400 | 18.4% |
| £400 to less than £500 | 6.6% |
| £500 or more | 12.2% |
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 fees | 3.5% |
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.