Renting in Chelmsford

Average Rent in Chelmsford

Rent in Chelmsford before the rush.

The average rent in Chelmsford is £1,400/mo, with 2,286 live listings across 6 portals from £400/mo. Compare rents by bedroom and area below — and get alerted the moment a new Chelmsford rental appears.

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Latest rentals in Chelmsford

The freshest listings we picked up across Rightmove, OnTheMarket, OpenRent, PrimeLocation, SpareRoom and Leaders.

192 new this weekUpdated today

Listings refresh as our scraper picks up new properties for Chelmsford. Click through to the source portal to enquire.

Renting in Chelmsford

What it costs to rent in Chelmsford

Chelmsford currently has 2,286 rental properties listed across the portals we track, with a median rent of £1,400 a month. 192 new homes appeared in the past week alone. Among the houses and flats listed, roughly 36% are houses and the rest are flats.

Rents vary sharply by postcode. The most affordable outcode we track is SS8 at around £700/mo, while CM3 sits nearer £2,148/mo. For a wider view of where the UK’s cheapest rents are, see our guide to the cheapest cities to rent in the UK.

Dwellio watches Rightmove, OnTheMarket, OpenRent, PrimeLocation, SpareRoom and Leaders for Chelmsford around the clock — so a new listing reaches your inbox before most renters have refreshed the app. Here’s how our rental alerts work. Looking further afield? You can browse rentals in every UK city.

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Market snapshot

Chelmsford rental market at a glance

2,286

Active rentals in Chelmsford

£1,400/mo

Median monthly rent

Property sites we watch

Rental prices

Rent by bedrooms in Chelmsford

Median monthly rent, based on 2,286 active listings across 6 property sites.

Bedrooms	Median rent	Available
1 bed	£1,150/mo	673
2 bed	£1,500/mo	649
3 bed	£1,800/mo	311
4+ bed	£2,300/mo	207
Room	£725/mo	410

Updated July 2026. Prices normalised to monthly where weekly was listed.

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Rent trend · ONS PIPR

How Chelmsford rents have moved

Office for National Statistics Price Index of Private Rents — official monthly average rent across all tenures in Chelmsford. Latest: £1,442/mo (Mar 26, +7.7% YoY).

Latest

£1,442

Mar 26

Annual

+7.7%

vs last year

5-yr ago

£1,080

Apr 21

Total change

+34%

since 2021

Source: Office for National Statistics · Price Index of Private Rents (PIPR). Updated monthly with a ~2-month lag. ONS uses Broad Rental Market Areas in Scotland — figures may aggregate beyond the city itself.

Affordability · ONS ASHE

What share of Chelmsford pay goes on rent?

Renters in Chelmsford spend an estimated 48% of the local median gross salary on rent — based on the ONS Price Index of Private Rents and ASHE Table 8 (2025).

Median rent

£1,442/mo

£17,304/yr

Median pay

£35,791/yr

gross, ASHE 2025

Rent burden

48%

Stretched — above the 30% rent-burden threshold.

0%30% threshold80%

Sources: Office for National Statistics — Price Index of Private Rents (latest month) and Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings Table 8.7a (median annual gross pay, place of residence). The 30% line is the conventional rent-burden threshold above which housing costs are considered to crowd out other essentials.

Council tax · VOA 2024

Council tax bands across Chelmsford

Most Chelmsford homes sit in Band C. The weighted average works out close to Band C–D across 80,990 properties on the council-tax list.

Modal band

most common band

Mean band

3.75

≈ Band C–D

Stock

81k

80,990 properties

A
6%4,800
B
14%11,040
C
30%23,910
D
23%18,410
E
14%11,350
F
8%6,540
G
6%4,510
H
1%440

Source: HM Valuation Office Agency — Council Tax Stock of Properties (CTSOP1.0), extract dated 31 March 2024. Covers England and Wales; Scotland and Northern Ireland use separate band schemes and aren't included.

Broadband · Ofcom Connected Nations

Broadband coverage across Chelmsford

79% of Chelmsford premises can already get full-fibre and 87% can get gigabit speeds — Ofcom Connected Nations residential coverage, July 2025.

Full fibre

79%

FTTP-ready premises

Gigabit

87%

≥1Gbit/s available

Superfast

98%

≥30Mbit/s available

Mean speed

456 Mbit/s

bucket-weighted estimate

Full fibre (FTTP)
79%
Gigabit-capable
87%
Superfast (≥30 Mbit/s)
98%

Source: Ofcom Connected Nations residential coverage by Local Authority (Chelmsford), July 2025, covering 81,627 premises. Mean download speed is estimated from Ofcom speed-bucket midpoints.

Energy efficiency · DESNZ EPC

EPC ratings for Chelmsford homes

51% of Chelmsford homes hold a current EPC in bands A–C — the bands that meet the proposed 2030 minimum energy-efficiency standard for rented stock.

Bands A–C

51%

good energy-efficiency stock

Bands D–G

49%

below the proposed 2030 floor

Certificates

64k

64,119 EPCs

A
1%323
B
16%10,279
C
35%22,273
D
35%22,336
E
11%6,904
F
3%1,623
G
1%381

Source: DESNZ Energy Performance of Buildings register (replacement for opendatacommunities.org), domestic certificates filed under Chelmsford. Covers England and Wales — Scottish EPCs are held in a separate Scottish register and aren't included.

Schools · GIAS · DfE

State-funded schools near Chelmsford

9 open state-funded schools sit within one mile of the Chelmsford centroid. The five closest:

1
The Cathedral Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, Chelmsford
Primary · Voluntary aided school · CM1 1PA
0.11 mi
2
King Edward VI Grammar School, Chelmsford
Secondary · Academy converter · CM1 3SX
0.40 mi
3
Trinity Road Primary School
Primary · Community school · CM2 6HS
0.49 mi
4
Chelmsford County High School for Girls
Secondary · Academy converter · CM1 1RW
0.49 mi
5
Our Lady Immaculate Catholic Primary School
Primary · Academy converter · CM2 0RG
0.55 mi

Source: DfE Get Information About Schools (state-funded extract). Distances are straight-line from each school's postcode to the Chelmsford centroid. Ofsted ratings were removed from GIAS in January 2025 and aren't available here.

Property types

What’s on offer in Chelmsford

Flats & apartments

817

48% of listings

Houses

457

27% of listings

Rooms

410

24% of listings

Bungalows

1% of listings

Property mix · houses

Houses to rent in Chelmsford — what's on the market

Terraced houses make up 41% of the 468 houses currently advertised in Chelmsford.

Terraced
41%193
Semi-detached
22%104
Other house
19%88
Detached
15%72
Bungalow
2%11

Rent by postcode

Where Chelmsford rent is highest and lowest

Median monthly rent grouped by outcode across 1,377 live listings in 31 outcodes. Outcodes with fewer than 3 listings are skipped to avoid skew from a single luxury rental.

Most expensive in Chelmsford

1CM3£2,148/mo10 rentals
2CM6£2,100/mo16 rentals
3CM11£1,900/mo4 rentals

Cheapest in Chelmsford

1SS8£700/mo3 rentals
2SS4£900/mo4 rentals
3SS2£930/mo7 rentals

Features · Chelmsford

Garden, parking, and floor area in Chelmsford

Live signal across 2,311 Chelmsford rentals scraped from six UK portals. Coverage varies by portal — figures below show the share of listings whose advertiser surfaces the feature.

Garden

77%

of 292 Chelmsford listings advertise a garden, patio, or terrace.

Parking

89%

of 429 Chelmsford listings include parking, a driveway, or a garage.

Area safety

Safety in Chelmsford

Typical Crime Level

Based on the latest police data (July 2026), Chelmsford has a typical crime rate compared to other UK cities. Across 36 of 36 postcode districts analysed, the median was 92 reported crimes per area. The most common category in Chelmsford is Anti-social behaviour, accounting for 0% of all incidents.

Crime overview

92 crimes per area (median)
36 of 36 postcode districts covered
Data: July 2026

Most reported

Anti-social behaviour
0% of incidents

Chelmsford’s figures sit in line with the national picture. Safety varies by street as much as by city — every Dwellio alert includes the area’s data to help.

Data from data.police.uk, updated monthly. Contains public-sector information licensed under OGL v3.0.

Area breakdown

Safety by suburb in Chelmsford

Street-level crime counts from data.police.uk for May 2026, covering a ~1 mile radius around each suburb centre. Figures are normalised per 1,000 residents so you can compare neighbourhoods fairly.

South Woodham Ferrers has the lowest crime count of the top 5 suburbs in Chelmsford.

Great Baddow
Higher crime
Most common: Violent crime (57) · pop. ~13,000
13
per 1k
Writtle
Safer area
Most common: Violent crime (10) · pop. ~6,000
4.0
per 1k
Galleywood
Typical for city
Most common: Violent crime (21) · pop. ~6,000
10
per 1k
Springfield
Higher crime
Most common: Violent crime (170) · pop. ~15,000
25
per 1k
South Woodham Ferrers
Safer area
Most common: Violent crime (22) · pop. ~17,000
3.5
per 1k

Suburbs shown are representative populated areas; figures reflect street-level incidents within ~1 mile of each centre. Data from data.police.uk. Contains public-sector information licensed under OGL v3.0.

Where we search

Chelmsford listings by portal

We watch 6 property sites for rentals in Chelmsford.

Rightmove

683

OnTheMarket

458

SpareRoom

410

PrimeLocation

356

OpenRent

351

Leaders

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Frequently asked

Renting in Chelmsford — your questions answered

What is the average rent in Chelmsford?

The median rent in Chelmsford is £1400/month based on 2286 active listings across 6 property portals (2026-07).

How many rental properties are available in Chelmsford?

There are currently 2286 rental properties available in Chelmsford, with 192 new listings added in the last 7 days.

Is Chelmsford safe for renters?

Chelmsford has a typical crime rate compared to other UK cities, with a median of 92 reported crimes per postcode area (July 2026). The most common category is Anti-social behaviour. Data from data.police.uk.

What is the most common crime in Chelmsford?

The most commonly reported crime category in Chelmsford is Anti-social behaviour, based on data.police.uk records for July 2026.

Cities to rent in nearby

Areas to rent near Chelmsford

More places renters search alongside Chelmsford. We monitor every UK portal in each city — set alerts for as many as you like.

Compare across the UK

Average rent in major UK cities

See how Chelmsford compares with the UK’s largest rental markets — median rents, area data and live alerts for each.

Renting guides

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Guides on covering every portal and reaching new Chelmsford listings first.

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