EasyRoommate possess industry figures revealing a large gap between:
- Rent Offered: the average value of a London room advertised on the site, and
- Rent Wanted: the average price range of London flat-hunters on the site.
The data, anonymously aggregated from EasyRoommate’s flatshare website listings, reveals that Londoners are going to the rent market with an average of £100pcm less than they need to find the flat they want.
The average London room listed on EasyRoommate 2015 cost 742pcm. The average room-hunter was seeking a room at, on average, only 639pcm. A large gap between rent advertised and rent wanted !
The Bigger Picture
So is the gap in London part of a UK-wide trend or yet another symptom of London’s uniquely competitive rent market? Away from the capital, the answer is clear.
Edinburgh is often touted as the second most fierce rent market in the UK. But the data shows that even here there is no such gap between the amount landlords advertise and the amount tenants want to pay.
Last year, Edinburgh’s average advertised rent price per room was £457pcm. But the rent wanted by room-hunters was actually higher, at £469pcm. The lack of a gap was reflected in other cities too, with Birmingham’s average rent offered £20pcm less than average rent wanted. Likewise, Manchester had a £40pcm gap between the same values.
Take a look on our Flatshare Index for more information!
What’s behind the Data?
One simple answer in the face of this data is that London renters are more optimistic, looking at the cheaper end of the market in order to score a bargain. But with prices so high compared to the rest of the country, it seems more likely that most Londoners simply cannot afford to pay in line with the average advertised room price.
This is only possible because of huge demand for rooms and lack of supply. In 2015, there were 6.2 flat-hunters for every room listed on EasyRoommate in London.
Another factor in the gap between the figures may be the fact that tenants often neglect that the market has moved on since signing their previous contract. Short hold lease contracts are usually a year long, meaning there is large scope for rental prices to fluctuate between contracts. Because London’s rental prices have grown quickest over the last for months, this could account for the discrepancy.
EasyRoommate is proud to offer a great service to people searching for cheap rooms in the UK. To find a room perfect for you, visit EasyRommate today.
To go further :
- UK cities full to the brim
- What does the budget mean for the UK rental market?
- 10 Ways Landlords Can Use Social Media to Get Higher Rents and Better Tenant
- Is the London rental crisis killing London?
- London rental standard: Saving you money and time
- Baromètre de la colocation 2015
