10 cheapest places to rent in England

Let and managed sign displayed outside a terraced house

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Hull has been named the most affordable city in Britain to rent in, with the average monthly cost being as low as £799.

Rent in the area is 48% below the national average of £1,369, according to new research collected by property website Rightmove, making the prospect of moving to the city desirable for renters who want to minimise their living costs.

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Other affordable cities for renters include Carlisle where the average rent is £816, and Wrexham where a typical month’s rent will set you back by £817.

“We are seeing rental price growth slowing overall and a better balance between supply and demand. However, as seen by this data, the picture can look quite different depending on where you’re looking to live, and agents tell us the market is still very busy compared with pre-pandemic norms.”

However, the average advertised rent of properties coming to market outside of London fell by 0.2% to £1,341 per calendar month over the last quarter, separate Rightmove data suggests.

Here’s a full list of the top ten of the most inexpensive places to rent in the country:

The cheapest places to rent in England

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Rank	City	Average advertised rent per calendar month	Average monthly rent as a % of average single monthly earning	Average rental price growth compared to
1	Hull	£799	26%	+8.2%
2	Carlisle	£816	27%	+10.4%
3	Wrexham	£817	27%	-16.3%
4	Sunderland	£833	27%	+12.9%
5	Stoke-On-Trent	£862	28%	+5.5%
6	Bradford	£876	29%	+8.6%
7	Dundee	£885	29%	-3.7%
8	Doncaster	£893	29%	+2.7%
9	Lancaster	£964	32%	+3.9%
10	Preston	£986	32%	+3.5%

The most expensive places to rent in England

Some of the most expensive places to rent in Britain include many cities in the East and South East of England. Unsurprisingly, London takes the top spot with the average advertised rent reaching a new record of £2,695 a month, representing 88% of average monthly earnings in Britain.

Other costly places to rent in England include St Albans, where the average monthly rent is £2,330, and Oxford, where rent will cost you around £2,041 a month.

Edinburgh is Britain’s 10th most expensive city to rent in, and Scotland’s most expensive city for renters.

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Rank	City	Average advertised rent per calendar month	Average monthly rent as a % of average single monthly earning	Average rental price growth compared to last year
1	London	£2,695	88%	+8.2%
2	St. Albans	£2,330	76%	+2.2%
3	Oxford	£2,041	67%	+2.8%
4	Winchester	£1,985	65%	-3.3%
5	Brighton	£1,880	62%	+3.5%
6	Cambridge	£1,870	61%	+1.8%
7	Chelmsford	£1,857	61%	+8.5%
8	Salford	£1,739	57%	+30.5%
9	Milton Keynes	£1,641	54%	+9.2%
10	Edinburgh	£1,620	53%	+5.3%

Daniel is a financial journalist at MoneyWeek, writing about personal finance, economics, property, politics, and investing.

He is passionate about translating political news and economic data into simple English, and explaining what it means for your wallet.

Daniel joined MoneyWeek in January 2025. He previously worked at The Economist in their Audience team and read history at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, specialising in the history of political thought.

In his free time, he likes reading, walking around Hampstead Heath, and cooking overambitious meals.