Getting a room in a shared house is becoming more challenging, considering that rent prices are rising and there is limited availability of rooms in the UK. However, this scenario can be even more tricky for those who need to rent disabled-accessible space.
Admiral Landlord Insurance analysed popular room rental websites to determine whether there are suitable rental properties with disabled access and whether there is a shortage of them. The study revealed that Salford is the UK city with the highest proportion of disabled-accessible rooms on the market: 13 per 100 rentals advertised ensure someone with a disability has access. To see the number of available rentals, a search filter was used on popular UK online room rental websites and, using this same method, the study also found that Gloucester is the city with the lowest proportion of disabled-accessible rooms on the market, with 1.3 per 100 rentals.
The analysis also revealed where demand exceeds supply the most in the UK and where tenants are priced out of the rental market. Using the same platforms, it revealed that there are 152.1 renters for every 10 rentals and 65.7% of people’s budgets are too low to afford the average rent across the country.
This is what we’ve discovered:
- According to our research, Salford has the highest proportion of disabled access rooms on the market, with 13 per 100 rentals.
- Gloucester is the UK city with the lowest proportion of rooms with disabled access available: only 1.3 out of 100 rentals advertised ensure someone with a disability has access. Crawley comes as the second with the lowest proportion of disabled access accommodations available.
- Our analysis also reveals that the demand for rooms to rent is much higher than the available supply. In the UK there are 152 people looking for a place to rent per 100 available rentals.
- When it comes to prices, 65.7% of renters in the UK can’t afford the average room rental.
Please credit the information with a link to Admiral’s research page should you wish to use the data for a story: https://www.admiral.com/home-insurance/rental-requirements#home
The UK locations with the highest proportion of rooms with disabled access available
| Location | Rentals per 100 total rentals |
| Salford | 13 |
| Newcastle | 10.3 |
| Aberdeen | 9.6 |
| Belfast | 9 |
| Swansea | 9 |
| Chelmsford | 8.8 |
| Manchester | 8.7 |
| Sheffield | 8.6 |
| Birmingham | 7.2 |
| London | 6.7 |
The UK locations with the lowest proportion of rooms with disabled access available
| Location | Rentals per 100 total rentals |
| Gloucester | 1.3 |
| Crawley | 1.5 |
| Wolverhampton | 1.9 |
| Stockport | 2.9 |
| Wakefield | 2.9 |
| Doncaster | 3.0 |
| Hemel Hempstead | 3.0 |
| Oxford | 3.1 |
| Brighton | 3.2 |
| Bristol | 3.3 |
Supply Vs. Demand
- From our analysis of all rental ads in UK cities, we found that demand for rented rooms outstrips availability. For every 100 rental ads, 152 people are looking for a room to rent in the UK.
- The most challenging country to find a room is in Scotland, where there are 197 renters per 100 total rentals.
| Average of renters vs available rentals | |
| Location | Renters per 100 total rentals |
| UK | 152.1 |
| England | 149.8 |
| Scotland | 197 |
| Wales | 157.6 |
Rental prices vs renters’ budgets
- In the UK, 65.7% of people’s budgets are too low to afford the average room rental.
- The most challenging country to find a room in is Wales, where 69.4% of people looking for a room have budgets below the average.
| Percentage of budgets below the average rental price | |||
| UK | England | Scotland | Wales |
| 65.7% | 65.1% | 67.5% | 69.4% |