The Great Rent Divide

Studies show you can get a one bed flat share in London, or a three bed terraced house in Manchester for the same price.

Renters can get a spacious three-bedroom house in Manchester or a tiny room in a London flat share for the SAME PRICE, according to new research.

The average UK rental value excluding London was £740 per month in January 2016 - 5.5 per cent higher than the same time last year, at £702 per month.

And now research from StoreFirst.com has shown the amazing variation in what renters can get for £800 or less in the UK's 10 biggest cities.

The worst value area in the UK is London where £800 will only get you a tiny room in a flat share in Whitechapel.

London also has the highest average rent in the UK at £1,510 per month.

In Manchester you could get a roomy three-bedroom terraced house with a cleaner for £795 or a two-bedroom apartment for £800 per month.

In Birmingham renters can get a furnished two-bedroom terraced house with two reception rooms for £800 per month or a two-bedroom apartment with parking for £725.

A renter in Leeds with a £650 budget can get a two bedroom apartment in the city centre with a Juliet balcony.

In Bradford you could get a three-bedroom semi-detached house with a garden and parking for two cars for £800 or a four-bedroom detached house with parking, a double garage, an en-suite shower and a breakfast bar for £750.

Prospective renters in Edinburgh can get a two-bedroom flat with a communal garden for £799 per month.

In Liverpool £800 gets you a two-bedroom duplex apartment or a four-bedroom terraced house with a garden for just £725.

Renters in Glasgow can get a two-bedroom semi-detached house for just £750 or a three-bedroom house with a garden for £700 per month.

In Bristol you can get a two-bedroom flat with a separate utility area for just £750.

By far the best value was Sheffield where you can rent a three-bed terraced house for £675 or a two-bedroom unfurnished house for £495.

After London, the most expensive area in the UK for renters is the South East of England with an average rent of £933 per month.

The three cheapest areas in the UK are the North East of England at £528, Northern Ireland at £582 and Wales at £595.

The cheapest London borough is Havering with an average rent of £1,161 per month and the most expensive is Kensington and Chelsea with an average rent of £2,720.
Oliver Kitson, Operations Director at StoreFirst.com, commented: “When looking at the prices of rentals going up predominantly in city/town centre locations its clear to see that renters are getting much less space for their money in the rental market. Despite government schemes like help to buy and help to buy mortgage guarantees, it doesn't seem as though people are ready, financially, to become home owners.

“With average property prices being over 8 times the average wage, it’s not difficult to see why. People no longer have that spare room to store their possessions in, and so turn to storing them elsewhere as a more cost effective solution."