Listz area intelligence

Average private rental costs by council

Name: England and Wales council private rental-cost rankings
Creator: Listz
License: https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

Compare ONS modelled average monthly rents across England and Wales for typical bedroom counts and property types.

316 councils2 retained without a published estimate

September 2026Latest published rental period

Three bedroomsSelected accommodation measure

Accommodation type

These are modelled council averages, not advertised-property medians. They describe the wider private rental market and do not represent university halls, purpose-built student accommodation, a guaranteed asking rent or the price of a particular property.

Highest average rents: Three bedrooms

Highest average rents for Three bedrooms
Rank	Council area	Monthly	Annual equivalent	Annual change	Monthly change
1	Kensington and Chelsea	£4,130	£49,560	+3.5%	+1.4%
2	Westminster	£3,912	£46,944	-0.2%	+0.4%
3	Camden	£3,071	£36,852	+1.6%	+0.5%
4	Hammersmith and Fulham	£3,031	£36,372	+5.2%	+1.3%
5	Islington	£3,022	£36,264	+7.0%	+0.6%
6	Hackney	£2,856	£34,272	+4.2%	+0.4%
7	Wandsworth	£2,818	£33,816	+4.3%	+0.3%
8	Southwark	£2,779	£33,348	+7.6%	+1.7%
9	Tower Hamlets	£2,760	£33,120	+3.9%	+0.4%
10	Richmond upon Thames	£2,703	£32,436	+5.7%	+0.7%
11	Lambeth	£2,696	£32,352	+3.5%	+0.5%
12	Ealing	£2,427	£29,124	+4.2%	+0.9%
13	Merton	£2,418	£29,016	+6.0%	+0.5%
14	Haringey	£2,363	£28,356	+1.8%	+0.3%
15	Brent	£2,277	£27,324	+5.3%	+0.2%
16	Barnet	£2,261	£27,132	+3.3%	+0.2%
17	Hounslow	£2,254	£27,048	+4.2%	+0.6%
18	Greenwich	£2,247	£26,964	+6.6%	+0.2%
19	Newham	£2,216	£26,592	+3.6%	+0.2%
20	Kingston upon Thames	£2,167	£26,004	+0.1%	+0.6%

Lowest average rents: Three bedrooms

Lowest average rents for Three bedrooms
Rank	Council area	Monthly	Annual equivalent	Annual change	Monthly change
1	Hartlepool	£612	£7,344	+1.7%	+0.7%
2	North East Lincolnshire	£686	£8,232	+7.9%	+1.2%
3	Blaenau Gwent	£689	£8,268	+5.9%	0.0%
4	County Durham	£697	£8,364	+6.7%	+0.6%
5	Burnley	£698	£8,376	+3.3%	+0.3%
6	Powys	£703	£8,436	+8.9%	+0.3%
7	Merthyr Tydfil	£722	£8,664	-1.8%	0.0%
8	Redcar and Cleveland	£725	£8,700	+1.7%	+0.2%
9	Neath Port Talbot	£728	£8,736	+6.6%	+0.2%
10	Hyndburn	£730	£8,760	+3.8%	+0.4%
11	Bolsover	£741	£8,892	+2.9%	-0.8%
12	Pendle	£743	£8,916	+6.7%	+0.5%
13	Carmarthenshire	£744	£8,928	+6.7%	+0.5%
14	Kingston upon Hull, City of	£745	£8,940	+7.8%	+0.2%
15	Rotherham	£747	£8,964	+3.8%	+0.6%
16	Rhondda Cynon Taf	£750	£9,000	+0.8%	-1.1%
17	North Lincolnshire	£752	£9,024	+5.9%	+0.2%
18	Barnsley	£754	£9,048	+7.4%	+0.2%
19	Middlesbrough	£754	£9,048	+4.4%	+0.1%
20	Pembrokeshire	£762	£9,144	+4.8%	+0.4%

Methodology and limitations

Ranking measure

ONS modelled average monthly private rent for the selected bedroom count or property type in September 2026.

Coverage

The current publication supplies estimates for 316 of 318 Listz areas. City of London and Isles of Scilly remain visible in the underlying dataset as unavailable.

Change figures

Annual change compares with the same month one year earlier. Monthly change compares with the preceding month and may be revised in later releases.

Interpretation

Council averages conceal neighbourhood and property-level variation. Furnishing, condition, size, exact location and included services can materially change the rent.

Source: Office for National Statistics, Price Index of Private Rents, UK: monthly price statistics. Licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.