Room rents have risen fastest in Belfast, Newcastle and Cardiff over the past five years, according to new analysis from flatshare platform SpareRoom.
Across the UK’s 20 largest cities, Belfast recorded the sharpest increase. Average room rents climbed 53% between Q4 2020 and Q4 2025, leaving tenants paying £2,460 more per year than five years ago.
Newcastle followed closely with a 52% rise, while Cardiff recorded a 50% increase over the same period. In the Welsh capital, rents reached a record average of £666 per month in Q4 2025.
The data shows that rapid rent growth has affected affordability across the country, pushing renters further from central areas and reshaping how households form. Although rents in some cities now appear to be stabilising, they remain high because prices have not meaningfully fallen.
Liverpool stands out among the major cities for its recent momentum. Average room rents reached a record £555 per month in Q4 2025, while the city also posted the largest year-on-year rise at 5.5%.
At the other end of the scale, Bradford and Hull remain the cheapest cities among the top 20 for renters seeking a room. Average monthly rents currently stand at:
£472 in Bradford
£512 in Hull
However, affordability pressures persist even in these lower-cost markets. Hull’s rents have increased 4.5% over the past year.
Coventry recorded the smallest five-year increase among the 20 cities analysed, with rents rising 25% during the period. Despite that slower long-term growth, prices in the city still climbed 2% year on year, one of the larger annual increases in the dataset.
Some markets have seen short-term declines. Manchester and Edinburgh posted the steepest year-on-year rent drops, down 3.7% and 3.6% respectively. Both cities, however, still recorded five-year increases of more than 40%.
Matt Hutchinson, director at SpareRoom, said the scale of rent growth has begun to reshape who can afford to live in major cities.
"Flatsharing has long afforded people the opportunity to live in cities, but disproportionate rent increases in recent years have created a barrier to urban living for those at the sharp end of the housing crisis," said Matt Hutchinson, director at flatshare site SpareRoom.
"Affordability has been stretched to breaking point, and it’s even changing the dynamics of shared households. Flatsharers are getting older as younger people are being priced out of the rental market altogether, and suburban housesharing is now increasingly common as more people are priced further out of cities too. It’s not knowledge workers who suffer most, it’s often the lowest-paid workers – including those in essential and key worker roles, hospitality and retail jobs – who keep our cities functioning."
