The average cost of renting a room in the UK has remained stable year on year at £747 per month, virtually unchanged from £746 in 2025.
Figures from rental website SpareRoom show that the picture is consistent across much of the United Kingdom.
The South West was the region with the biggest increase in average rents, up 1.5% to £677 per month.
However, some individual cities saw more substantial movements, including Carlisle (+8%), Inverness (+7%), Gloucester (+6%), Durham (+6%), Worcester (+6%) and Salisbury (+6%).
In London, average rents fell by 0.5% annually to £978 per month.
Analysis of room advertisements placed in January, the busiest month of the year for new homes, shows that growth is slowing.
The supply of rooms increased for the third consecutive year, but this growth of 4.2% was lower than the increase of 13.8% in the previous twelve months.
SpareRoom suggests that this could be related to the gradual introduction of the Tenants Act from 1 May.
SpareRoom managing director Matt Hutchinson said: “Landlords have been telling us for months about their plans to exit the market or reduce their portfolios, but until now we have not seen that reflected in supply, which has been on an upward trend since the aftermath of the pandemic.
“Slowing room supply growth is a major concern because flatshare rooms are such a crucial source of affordable housing.
“If the imbalance between supply and demand worsens, UK rents – which, while stable, are already massively inflated due to post-pandemic demand – will start to rise again.
“We fear this is the calm before the storm.”