"City living was once to flatsharers what suburban living was to families with 2.4 children. But the tides are turning."
- Matt Hutchinson - SpareRoom
New data from flatshare site SpareRoom shows renters priced out of urban centres are increasingly seeking more affordable options in suburban and commuter towns.
Esher, a Surrey commuter town 30 minutes from London Waterloo station, tops the list. The town has seen demand jump 32% year-on-year and now records 11.2 people searching per available room.
High rents across Greater London and nearby South East towns are a key factor. Kingston-upon-Thames, Twickenham, Barnet, and Horsham are seeing spillover demand from London, where rents have risen 37% over the past five years. Although London rents have stabilised in the last two years, affordability remains a major issue.
The trend is not confined to London. Kilmarnock, well connected to Glasgow, has seen flatsharer demand double, the fastest rise in the UK. Seven people now compete for each room, with the average 2025 room rent at £588 per month, saving flatsharers more than £1,000 a year compared with Glasgow (£683 per month in 2025).
Motherwell and Paisley, also linked to Glasgow commuting routes, show notable rises. Demand in Motherwell increased by a third, while Paisley saw a 16% jump.
Liverpool has seen similar pressure. Average rents have climbed 40% over five years, reaching £555 per month in the final quarter of 2025. Two towns on its edges are now in high demand: Birkenhead (+33%) and Widnes (+22%). Widnes ranks third in the UK, with 10.2 people searching per room.
In the Midlands, towns including West Bromwich, Halesowen, Smethwick, Kidderminster, and Sutton Coldfield report some of the highest demand nationally. West Bromwich leads with 10.5 people searching per room, followed by Halesowen (9.8), Smethwick (7.4), Kidderminster (7), and Sutton Coldfield (6.7). Birmingham, however, has seen a 22% drop in demand, now at 2.8 people per room.
Flatsharing remains largely urban. A March 2025 SpareRoom survey of 6,524 flatsharers found 58% lived in urban areas, 30% in suburban locations, and 12% in semi-rural or rural settings.
Matt Hutchinson, director of SpareRoom, said, “City living was once to flatsharers what suburban living was to families with 2.4 children. But the tides are turning. Given how high rents are now compared to where they were five years ago, people are faced with no choice but to chase affordability. It’s not an urban exodus, but it’s certainly flatshare sprawl."
“When even flatsharers are turning away from major cities, you know there’s a huge problem with affordability. More renters migrating to cheaper towns puts upward pressure on rents. These towns won’t be affordable much longer and then where do people go?"
"Quite soon, renters will simply be out of options. It’s bad for the economy too, which relies on a flexible workforce. If people can’t take advantage of new job opportunities, everyone loses.”
