Aberdeen worst city in UK for renters as more than 90% priced out of market

Almost 92% of renters priced out of the market in Granite City but it also has most pet-friendly and student-friendly rentals in UK and is in top three locations for disabled access property

By Jacqueline Wake Young

September 24 2023, 5:00 pm

Research by Admiral Landlord Insurance looked at room rental websites to reveal where renters are being priced out.

Aberdeen renters are being priced out of the market more than in any other UK city, according to recent research.

A study by Admiral Landlord Insurance analysed popular room rental websites to reveal where renters looking for a room are really struggling and the areas where demand exceeds supply the most.

It found that renters are hardest hit in Aberdeen, where people can’t afford the average room rental with budgets too low 91.7% of the time.

That is more than anywhere else in the UK, including London.

A room in Aberdeen costs on average £618, while the average budget is £463.

Almost 92% of renters are being priced out of the market in Aberdeen according to research by Admiral Landlord Insurance. Image: Shutterstock.

London is in second place with 86.2% of renters who can’t afford the average room in the capital.

The average budget for people in London who are looking for a room is £885 whereas the average rental in London is a staggering £1,107.

There was good news for animal-lovers however as a total of 13.6 pet-friendly rooms in every 100 rentals are available to rent in Aberdeen, more than in any other city in the UK.

The Granite City also has the highest proportion of student-friendly rooms on the market, with 88.8 per 100 rentals.

And it’s in the top three cities for disabled access with 9.6 out of 100 rooms available being suitably set up.

Aberdeen has 13.6 pet-friendly rooms in every 100 rentals, the highest in the UK. Image: Shutterstock.

The research also found that the average rent for a single room in Scotland is £20 more than the average person’s budget.

Analysis of online room rental ads for single renters in Scotland also revealed that more than two-thirds (67.5%) of people’s budgets are too low to afford the average rental.

This above the UK average where 65.7% of people’s budgets are too low to afford the average room rental.

Analysis of rental ads in Scotland and the UK found that the demand for rooms to rent is much higher than the available supply.

The demand for rooms to rent is much higher than the available supply, with Glasgow near the top. Image: Shutterstock.

Per 100 rentals in the UK overall, there are 152 people looking for a place to rent while in Scotland it’s almost double with 197 people jostling for every 100 rooms.

Glasgow has one of the highest demands for rentals in the UK. For every 100 rentals in the city, there are 302 people looking to rent.

Aberdeen, in contrast, has 96 prospective renters for every 100 available rentals and is in 7th place for the fewest renters per 100 rentals.

Finding a room to rent is not easy, especially in the Granite City, research has revealed.

A spokesperson for Admiral said: Since Covid restrictions were lifted last year, there has been an increase in renters looking for housing accommodation.

“Our analysis echoes this trend, with far more people looking to rent a room in each city than what is currently being advertised on sites such as SpareRoom.

“The rental market is also being impacted by the growing trend of landlords selling their properties.

“Propertymark research shows that between March 2019 and March 2022, 84% of landlords who removed their property from the rental market did so to sell it.

Some landlords are taking their properties off the market in order to sell them.

“In 63% of UK cities analysed, we can see that the majority of single people looking to rent are priced out of the average rental price.

“On a national level, just over half of renters in England, Scotland and Wales can’t afford the average rental price for a single occupancy room.

“Compared to data from 2021, renters are increasingly priced out with the percentage of budgets falling below average rental prices increasing to 65.7% from 52.7%.

“Renters across Britain face an uncertain future, with the Office of National Statistics reporting an increase in private rental prices of 3.7% in England, 3.2% in Wales, and 4.2% in Scotland.”