Cheapest places to live in the UK, ranked by rent
Published 2026-09-25, checked against current rates 2026-09-17 by Hadi. How we check figures Corrections log
The cheapest place to live in the UK, on the most recent published rent figures, is Hull: £694 a month for an average private rental against a UK average of £1,400 and £2,332 in London. Stoke-on-Trent and Bradford are next, at £715 and £745. Those are ONS Price Index of Private Rents figures for August 2026, published 16 September 2026, and none of them is modelled or estimated. The number that actually decides where you can afford to live is not the rent though, it is what is left after rent and income tax together. On £30,000 a year, a typical UK salary, Hull leaves £1,399 a month once both come off, which is 33% of take-home going on rent against the 30% lenders and letting agents usually treat as the ceiling. London leaves nothing at all: average rent there is 111% of take-home on that salary, so the average home is out of reach on a median wage without a second income or a shared tenancy.
Put your own salary and two cities in and see the rent, the tax and what survives both, including the Scottish bands if you are crossing the border.
Compare two citiesThe 10 cheapest cities by rent
Average monthly private rent across all property types, with what £30,000 leaves after that rent and after income tax and National Insurance on 2026/27 rates.
| City | Average rent | Year on year | Left after rent and tax | Rent takes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hullpublished as Kingston upon Hull, City of | £694 | +7.4% | £1,399 | 33% of take-home |
| Stoke-on-Trent | £715 | +5.4% | £1,378 | 34% of take-home |
| Bradford | £745 | +2.4% | £1,348 | 36% of take-home |
| Dundeepublished as Dundee and Angus | £825 | +0.3% | £1,271 | 39% of take-home |
| Aberdeenpublished as Aberdeen and Shire | £845 | -0.5% | £1,251 | 40% of take-home |
| Swansea | £852 | +6.2% | £1,241 | 41% of take-home |
| Derby | £860 | +3.1% | £1,233 | 41% of take-home |
| Liverpool | £913 | +5.6% | £1,180 | 44% of take-home |
| Sheffield | £931 | +4.3% | £1,162 | 44% of take-home |
| Wolverhampton | £945 | +11.1% | £1,148 | 45% of take-home |
| London | £2,332 | +3.5% | nothing, £239 short | 111% of take-home |
The last column is the one worth reading. A rule of thumb many lenders and letting agents use is that rent should take no more than 30% of net pay. On £30,000, rent in Hull takes 33% of take-home and rent in London takes 111%. The rent affordability calculator works the same sum from your own salary.
Cheapest rent is not the same as most money left
Rent is the biggest cost but income tax is the other one, and it is not the same across the UK. Scotland runs six bands of its own, so on an identical salary a Scottish city keeps a different amount before rent is even considered. Ranked by what survives both on £30,000, the best city is Hull at £1,399 a month. The Scotland versus England comparison covers the tax half of that on its own.
What this does not cover
Rent and tax, and nothing else. There is no current official UK series for groceries, energy or transport by city: the last ONS publication of relative regional consumer price levels was in 2016, so any present-day cost-of-living index by UK city is modelling those components rather than measuring them. Council tax also varies by band and authority and is not in these figures. What is here is published, dated and checkable, which is the trade this site makes everywhere.
Questions people ask
Where is the cheapest place to live in the UK?
On the most recent ONS rent figures (August 2026, published 16 September 2026) the cheapest of the 36 cities tracked here is Hull, at £694 a month for an average private rental. Stoke-on-Trent and Bradford follow at £715 and £745. For comparison the UK average is £1,400 and London is £2,332.
Is the cheapest rent the same as the most money left over?
Not always. Rent is the largest single cost but tax is the other one, and Scotland sets its own income tax bands, so the same salary leaves a different amount depending on which country you are in. On £30,000 the city leaving the most each month is Hull, with £1,399 after rent. The ranking by rent alone and the ranking by money left are close but not identical.
Does this include bills, food and transport?
No, and no honest UK source can. The last time the ONS published relative regional consumer price levels was 2016, and there is no current official series for groceries, energy or transport by city. Everything on this page is rent and tax, both of which are published and checkable. Anything claiming a full cost-of-living index by UK city is modelling the rest.
Why is Edinburgh listed as Lothian?
Scotland publishes private rent by broad rental market area rather than by council, so the ONS series covering Edinburgh is named Lothian and the one covering Glasgow is Greater Glasgow. The names are shown as published rather than relabelled, because a figure quoted under the wrong name is worse than one quoted under an unfamiliar one.
Sources
- ONS Price Index of Private Rents, UK, August 2026
- HMRC: rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027
Every figure on this page is computed from those tables at build time, checked 2026-09-17. If a number here ever disagrees with gov.uk, gov.uk is right and this is a bug worth telling us about. See our corrections policy.
Related guides
What is a good salary in the UK in 2026?
Answered with the HMRC income distribution instead of vibes. Where each salary ranks, and what it leaves per month.
London weighting: what it is and how much you get
An allowance that is 20% of salary only in the middle of the range: a cash floor and ceiling flatten it at both ends. What the NHS pays, and what survives tax.
All 17 guides are listed on the guides index, and every calculator on the home page.