Flat-sharers in York and Derby are also finding that rents outstrip their budgets by more than £600 per year
Comparing the average rent with the average renter’s budget in 35 major cities, Edinburgh comes out on top as the most unaffordable.
Picture:
Alamy
Edinburgh has been named the least affordable major UK city for tenants, with standard renters in the Scottish capital having to fork out an extra £1,028 a year to afford an average room, according to recent data.
Analysis from rental portal SpareRoom has found asking rents averaged £834 during the second quarter of 2026, £86 above the average monthly flat-share budget of £748.
According to the data, this is the highest of 35 major cities across the UK, including London.
The annual difference between average budgets and average rents was found to be almost double that of York, the second least affordable city, where flatsharers will find themselves short an average of £611 annually.
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Based on Q2 2026 prices.
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SpareRoom
Matt Hutchinson, director of SpareRoom, said: “Edinburgh’s room rental market suffers from the festival effect: prices spike cyclically when demand is heightened in the lead-up to and over the summer.
“But it’s also the most expensive city to rent in outside of London, and our data shows many renters just aren’t prepared for, or able to meet, the steep prices in Scotland’s capital.“
The report found that cities such as Derby, Belfast and Glasgow also recorded significant shortfalls of £607, £456 and £429, respectively, between flatsharers’ budgets and actual rent costs.
Across the UK, average rents have been consistently higher than average budgets since the end of 2022, the data showed.
“Sizeable affordability gaps in York and Derby put paid to any expectation that rents will be more affordable in the north of the UK”, said Mr Hutchinson.
A 3-year-view of rent v budget.
Picture:
SpareRoom
The report also warned that it is no longer achievable for a majority of renters to spend no more than the recommended 30% of their income on housing costs.
According to a July 2026 survey by SpareRoom, just 15.3% of UK renters are able to do this, while 37.8% are spending more than half their pay on rent.
The same survey also found that, in the past year, almost a third (32%) of UK renters have been forced to move because their rent was no longer affordable.
“Budgets are, of course, relative to earnings and wages are clearly not matching up with rising living costs. This is a problem across the whole of the UK,” Mr Hutchinson added.
“For more than three years, UK room rents have outstripped budgets, and nothing is being done to protect rental supply and improve affordability.”