The top 10 most expensive places to rent

Somebody needs to tell the rental market that Britain is only just on the road to recovery and that growth is supposed to be slow and sustained. Because in some parts of the country, That’s according to flatsharing website spareroom.co.uk, which says that room rental costs, and their movement in the last 12 months, vary drastically depending on where you live.

Those flatsharing in Sunderland will have been thrilled to have seen average monthly house and flatsharing rents drop by a massive 13.5% in the last year, for example. While private renters in Stroke are not so lucky, having faced rent hikes of 11.3% in the last year. The runners and riders.

Second only to Stoke in the rising rents league is Telford in Shropshire, where room rents increased by 10.8% in the last 12 months. Below are the 10 towns and cities to have seen the largest rises, noting the current monthly rent compared to last year’s figure.What’s interesting about this list is that half of the top 10 towns are in the North of England, where average monthly room rents increased by 1.5% over the past 12 months. And there are no towns or cities from the south of England - average monthly room rents in the region rose by just 0.6% in the past year.

So rents are rising fastest in the North right?

Well, what is even more interesting is that when you look at the 10 towns and cities to have seen the biggest falls in monthly room rents, that table is also dominated by the North. If anything the North is seeing more volatility in rents, while rental income is more stable in many parts of the South.Time to let?

If you have a spare room in your house the figures above may well tempt you to consider taking in a lodger. Indeed the money you bring in can go a long way towards paying your mortgage.