10 most expensive places to rent outside of London revealed by Rightmove

Rightmove’s list is dominated by regions in the south of England. It comes as the cost of homes to rent has soared over the last five years amid inflation and an imbalance between supply and demand.

A woman looks at listings for properties to rent in the window of a letting agent (image: Getty Images)
The price of homes to rent has soared since Covid, new Rightmove data has found (image: Getty Images)
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Rightmove has revealed the most expensive cities outside of London for renters, with the south of England taking up most of the top 10.

The property listing website found St Albans, Hertfordshire came out on top as the priciest place to rent out a home in Great Britain. With typical monthly advertised rents in the city coming in at £2,307, putting its lets 71% above the UK’s average (£1,349 per calendar month).

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Top 10 most expensive cities to rent in
CityNation/RegionAverage monthly advertised rentFive-year difference £pcm (%)
1. St AlbansEast of England£2,307£569 (+33%)
2. OxfordSouth East£2,237£649 (+41%)
3. CambridgeEast of England£2,072£589 (+40%)
4. WinchesterSouth East£2,049£484 (+31%)
5. BrightonSouth East£2,040£510 (+33%)
6. EdinburghScotland£1,778£527 (+42%)
7. BristolSouth West£1,758£567 (+48%)
8. ChelmsfordEast of England£1,686£482 (+40%)
9. Milton KeynesSouth East£1,590£453 (+40%)
10. Southend-on-SeaEast of England£1,495£418 (+39%)
Swipe to scroll horizontally
CityNation/RegionAverage monthly advertised rentFive-year difference £pcm (%)
CarlisleNorth West£791£252 (+47%)
HullYorkshire and The Humber£804£213 (+36%)
SunderlandNorth East£807£216 (+37%)
Stoke-on-TrentWest Midlands£863£279 (+48%)
WrexhamWales£874£285 (+48%)
BradfordYorkshire and The Humber£947£366 (+63%)
PrestonNorth West£952£310 (+48%)
DoncasterYorkshire and The Humber£974£325 (+50%)
LancasterNorth West£993£270 (+37%)
WakefieldYorkshire and The Humber£1,030£323 (+46%)

Henry Sandercock has spent more than eight years as a journalist covering a wide variety of beats. Having studied for an MA in journalism at the University of Kent, he started his career in the garden of England as a reporter for local TV channel KMTV.

Henry then worked at the BBC for three years as a radio producer - mostly on BBC Radio 2 with Jeremy Vine, but also on major BBC Radio 4 programmes like The World at One, PM and Broadcasting House. Switching to print media, he covered fresh foods for respected magazine The Grocer for two years.

After moving to NationalWorld.com - a national news site run by the publisher of The Scotsman and Yorkshire Post - Henry began reporting on the cost of living crisis, becoming the title’s money editor in early 2023. He covered everything from the energy crisis to scams, and inflation. He also has bylines in MoneyWeek.