Average 1 Bedroom Rent in London 2026
A 1 bedroom property in London rents for an average of £1,760 per month as of August 2026, +3.7% on a year earlier. That is 47.6% of median local full-time pay.
Across 32 boroughs a 1 bedroom ranges from £1,217 in Havering to £2,640 in Kensington and Chelsea. Updated 2026-09-18.
What that costs relative to local pay
A 1 bedroom in London against what people living in London actually earn.
How to read this. Earnings are gross — before tax and National Insurance — so the share of take-home pay is materially higher. The earnings figure is for 2024, the latest year GLA London Datastore publishes, while the rent figure is current; pay has risen since, so the true present-day ratio is somewhat lower than shown. Both are medians for people living in the area, not for jobs located there.
1 Bedroom rent in London since 2015
View the year-by-year figures as a table
| Year | Average 1 bed rent |
|---|---|
| 2015 | £1,220 |
| 2016 | £1,262 |
| 2017 | £1,266 |
| 2018 | £1,265 |
| 2019 | £1,305 |
| 2020 | £1,310 |
| 2021 | £1,288 |
| 2022 | £1,354 |
| 2023 | £1,489 |
| 2024 | £1,667 |
| 2025 | £1,710 |
| 2026 | £1,760 |
Other property sizes in London
1 Bedroom rent across every London borough
Cheapest first, August 2026.
| # | Borough | 1 bed rent | Year on year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Havering | £1,217 | +1.7% |
| 2 | Bexley | £1,229 | +1.8% |
| 3 | Sutton | £1,239 | +2.3% |
| 4 | Hillingdon | £1,252 | +2.6% |
| 5 | Croydon | £1,265 | +3.2% |
| 6 | Bromley | £1,312 | +2.9% |
| 7 | Redbridge | £1,368 | +2.1% |
| 8 | Barking and Dagenham | £1,377 | +2.4% |
| 9 | Kingston upon Thames | £1,379 | −1.1% |
| 10 | Harrow | £1,394 | +2.7% |
| 11 | Waltham Forest | £1,400 | +1.6% |
| 12 | Enfield | £1,422 | +5.4% |
| 13 | Lewisham | £1,457 | +2.1% |
| 14 | Barnet | £1,500 | +3.5% |
| 15 | Greenwich | £1,563 | +6.1% |
| 16 | Brent | £1,577 | +3.2% |
| 17 | Hounslow | £1,583 | +3.2% |
| 18 | Ealing | £1,629 | +3.2% |
| 19 | Newham | £1,630 | +2.7% |
| 20 | Haringey | £1,639 | +1.4% |
| 21 | Merton | £1,639 | +5.5% |
| 22 | Richmond upon Thames | £1,732 | +4.7% |
| 23 | Southwark | £1,876 | +5.6% |
| 24 | Lambeth | £1,882 | +3.8% |
| 25 | Wandsworth | £1,938 | +4.5% |
| 26 | Tower Hamlets | £1,992 | +3.4% |
| 27 | Hammersmith and Fulham | £2,000 | +3.6% |
| 28 | Hackney | £2,001 | +3.8% |
| 29 | Camden | £2,054 | +1.3% |
| 30 | Islington | £2,178 | +6.8% |
| 31 | Westminster | £2,548 | −0.1% |
| 32 | Kensington and Chelsea | £2,640 | +2.7% |
Common questions
How much is a 1 bedroom in London?
A 1 bedroom property in London rents for an average of £1,760 per month as of August 2026, according to the ONS Price Index of Private Rents — +3.7% compared with a year earlier.
Is a 1 bedroom in London affordable on a local salary?
At £1,760 a month against median gross full-time pay of £3,698 for people living in London, rent takes 47.6% of gross earnings. The commonly used affordability guideline is 30%. Note that earnings are before tax and National Insurance, and the earnings figure is for 2024.
How much has 1 bedroom rent risen in London?
A 1 bedroom in London has gone from £1,288 in 2021 to £1,760 today — up £472 a month, or 36.6%, in five years.
Which London borough is cheapest for a 1 bedroom?
Havering at £1,217 per month, then Bexley (£1,229) and Sutton (£1,239). The most expensive is Kensington and Chelsea at £2,640 (August 2026).
See what £1,760 actually gets you
Averages are a starting point. Browse what is genuinely available now, listed directly by landlords with no agency fees.
Earnings data: GLA London Datastore — Earnings by Place of Residence, Borough (ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings). Median gross full-time weekly pay, by place of residence, 2024. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.