Yahoo Finance Revealed: Cheapest places to rent in the UK
Bradford, Middlesbrough and Sunderland are some of the cheapest cities in the UK to rent a room, new data has revealed.
The average room rent in these cities is under £365 ($500) per month, according to a report by SpareRoom, which helps users find flat shares.
Belfast, Huddersfield and Stoke-on-Trent also have cheap rooms available.
The report said all of the top 50 UK towns and cities it analysed have seen an increase in demand versus supply year on year.
Brighton has seen the biggest increase in demand versus supply (up 101% year on year), followed by Poole and Edinburgh, both increasing by 81%.
In London, demand versus supply was up 71%.
Watch: Should I move in with my parents to save money?
For those who can afford to spend a bit more on a room, Birmingham, with an average room rent of £405, could be a cheap option, along with Bolton (£408) and Derby (£418).
People looking in London may want to stick to the north or the east, where the average room rent is the lowest, at £676 and £677 respectively.
“People can now choose a place to live because it suits their lifestyle, not just because the commute is convenient,” said Matt Hutchinson, director of SpareRoom.
This is because “the past 18 months have totally changed our attitudes to work. Some jobs we were told simply weren’t suitable for remote working have proved to work just fine from home" thanks to the pandemic, he said.
Read more: UK sees 'behemoth level' of house price growth
“The coming months will definitely hold some changes in terms of how and where we want to live. That could be great news for some towns and cities that have historically suffered from a skills drain."
Renting may be the only option for those who can't afford to get on the property ladder as prices continue to soar. The government said earlier this year that UK house prices increased by 13.2% in the year to June 2021, up from 9.8% in May 2021.
This means the average property in the UK is now valued at £265,668, according to new Department of Housing statistics.
Watch: Am I wasting my money by renting?
