Average rent in Southampton (2026)

Data as of July 2026 · computed by Flatscout from live cross-portal listings and official open data

Southampton mixes a port-city economy with two universities: Portswood and Highfield take the student demand, Ocean Village the waterfront flat premium, and Shirley and Bitterne the affordable family end — at rents notably below the South East average.

Southampton currently has 1,572 live rental listings across the portals Flatscout tracks — Rightmove, Zoopla and SpareRoom — with a median asking rent of £1,150 a month for a whole property. Rooms in shared homes start lower, and the by-postcode table below shows how much the same budget buys in different corners of the city.

Everything on this page is computed from listings Flatscout scrapes and de-duplicates around the clock, joined with official open data: the ONS Price Index of Private Rents for the long-run trend, ONS earnings data for affordability, police.uk street-level crime, VOA council-tax bands, Ofcom broadband coverage, and EPC certificates matched to the homes actually being advertised right now. Figures refresh continuously — the numbers below were last computed in July 2026.

If you're actively hunting, the data has one practical message: well-priced Southampton rentals go in hours, not days. Flatscout watches every portal and can alert you by email, WhatsApp or Telegram within minutes of a matching listing appearing — before most renters have refreshed the app.

Rent by bedrooms in Southampton

Median monthly asking rent by bedrooms, Southampton
BedroomsMedian rentAvailable
Studio£750/mo179
1 bed£900/mo407
2 bed£1,300/mo371
3 bed£1,600/mo146
4+ bed£2,150/mo141
Room in shared home£633/mo328

Rent by postcode district

Median monthly rent by outcode (3+ listings each), Southampton
OutcodeMedian rentListings
SO52£2,200/mo9
SO30£1,648/mo44
SO45£1,585/mo8
SO19£1,300/mo87
SO31£1,300/mo60
SO32£1,300/mo23
SO16£1,250/mo131
SO14£1,100/mo385
SO17£1,100/mo171
SO18£1,100/mo44
SO40£1,050/mo17
SO15£995/mo265

Official rent trend (ONS)

The ONS Price Index of Private Rents puts the average rent across ALL Southampton tenancies at £1,253/mo in June 2026 — up 3.0% on a year earlier. In January 2020 it was £900/mo. The ONS average sits below asking-rent medians because it includes existing tenancies, not just newly advertised homes.

Affordability

Renting at the ONS average of £1,253/mo takes roughly 46% of the local median gross salary of £32,907 a year (ONS ASHE 2025). The conventional affordability threshold is 30%.

Property type mix

Gardens and parking

Of 1,572 live listings, 46% advertise a garden and 15% advertise parking. Portals under-report features, so treat these as a floor.

EPC energy ratings

EPC bands of live Southampton rentals matched to certificates
BandListings
B4
C40
D35
E8
F1

Council-tax bands

VOA council-tax stock of domestic properties, Southampton
BandProperties
Band A36,920
Band B35,880
Band C23,750
Band D9,780
Band E3,200
Band F1,420
Band G450
Band H30

Broadband

Residential premises coverage in Southampton: 94% full fibre (FTTP), 97% gigabit-capable, 99% superfast (30 Mbit/s+) (Ofcom Connected Nations).

Crime

police.uk street-level data for May 2026: median 188 reported incidents per postcode district across 12 districts around the busiest rental postcodes. The most common category city-wide is violence and sexual offences (32% of reports).

Reported crimes by inner area, May 2026
AreaReports / 1,000 peopleMost common category
Bitterne17.9violence and sexual offences
City Centre77.2violence and sexual offences
Ocean Village73.8violence and sexual offences
Portswood39.6violence and sexual offences
Shirley28.4violence and sexual offences

Where the listings come from

No single portal has every home — Flatscout merges and de-duplicates them all, so each property is counted once.

Renting in Southampton, answered

What is the average rent in Southampton?

The median asking rent in Southampton is £1,150 per month for a whole property, based on 1,572 live listings tracked by Flatscout across Rightmove, Zoopla and SpareRoom (July 2026).

How many rental properties are available in Southampton?

Flatscout is currently tracking 1,572 active rental listings in Southampton, with 340 new listings added in the last 7 days. Listings from every portal are merged and de-duplicated, so each home is counted once.

How much is a one-bedroom flat to rent in Southampton?

The median asking rent for a one-bedroom property in Southampton is £900 per month, while a room in a shared home has a median of £633 (July 2026).

Is Southampton safe for renters?

Across 12 postcode districts analysed, the median is 188 reported crimes per district per month, and the most common category is violence and sexual offences. Crime varies a lot street by street — data from data.police.uk (May 2026).

What share of income goes on rent in Southampton?

Renting at the ONS average of £1,253/mo takes roughly 46% of the local median gross salary of £32,907 (ONS ASHE 2025). The conventional affordability threshold is 30%.

Average rent in other cities

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