Renting in Reading

Average Rent in Reading: £1,400/mo

Rent in Reading before the rush.

Median asking rent across 7,313 live Reading listings on 5 portals from £400/mo, broken down by property size below — plus how rents have moved, where they are highest and lowest, and what landed on the market this week.

Median asking rent

£1,400 /month

7,313 live listings · 5 portals

Median monthly rent in Reading by property size
Size	Median rent	Listings
Studio	£978/mo	495
1 bed	£1,100/mo	2,601
2 bed	£1,500/mo	1,985
3 bed	£1,800/mo	668
4+ bed	£2,700/mo	886
Room (house share)	£725/mo	678

Asking rents from live listings on Rightmove, OnTheMarket, OpenRent, PrimeLocation, SpareRoom and Leaders · Updated 12 September 2026. Weekly prices normalised to monthly.

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Renting in Reading

What it costs to rent in Reading

Reading currently has 7,313 rental properties listed across the portals we track, with a median rent of £1,400 a month. 76 new homes appeared in the past week alone. Among the houses and flats listed, roughly 29% are houses and the rest are flats.

Rents vary sharply by postcode. The most affordable outcode we track is RG31 at around £1,300/mo, while RG5 sits nearer £1,797/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 Reading 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.

Rent by property size

Average rent in Reading by bedrooms

Median monthly asking rent for each property size, from 7,313 live listings across 5 property sites (September 2026).

Average studio rent in Reading

£978/mo

The median asking rent for a studio in Reading is £978 a month, 30% below the city-wide median of £1,400, based on 495 studios currently on the market.

Average rent for a 1-bed flat in Reading

£1,100/mo

The median asking rent for a 1-bed home in Reading is £1,100 a month, 21% below the city-wide median of £1,400, based on 2,601 listings currently on the market.

Average rent for a 2-bed flat or house in Reading

£1,500/mo

The median asking rent for a 2-bed home in Reading is £1,500 a month, 7% above the city-wide median of £1,400, based on 1,985 listings currently on the market.

Average rent for a 3-bed house in Reading

£1,800/mo

The median asking rent for a 3-bed home in Reading is £1,800 a month, 29% above the city-wide median of £1,400, based on 668 listings currently on the market.

Average rent for a 4-bed house in Reading

£2,700/mo

The median asking rent for a four-bedroom-plus home in Reading is £2,700 a month, 93% above the city-wide median of £1,400, based on 886 listings currently on the market.

Average room rent in Reading

£725/mo

The median asking rent for a room in a Reading house share is £725 a month, 48% below the city-wide median of £1,400, based on 678 rooms currently listed, mostly on SpareRoom and OpenRent.

Medians exclude prices that fail our junk-listing floor. Room rents are per room, not per property.

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Rent trend · ONS PIPR

How Reading rents have moved

Office for National Statistics Price Index of Private Rents — official monthly average rent across all tenures in Reading. Latest: £1,573/mo (Jul 26, +1.9% YoY).

Latest

£1,573

Jul 26

Annual

+1.9%

vs last year

5-yr ago

£1,164

Aug 21

Total change

+35%

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 Reading pay goes on rent?

Renters in Reading spend an estimated 53% of the local median gross salary on rent — based on the ONS Price Index of Private Rents and ASHE Table 8 (2025).

Median rent

£1,573/mo

£18,876/yr

Median pay

£35,454/yr

gross, ASHE 2025

Rent burden

53%

Expensive — half of local median pay before tax.

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.

Property types

What’s on offer in Reading

Flats & apartments

3627

62% of listings

Houses

1509

26% of listings

Rooms

678

12% of listings

Bungalows

0% of listings

Property mix · houses

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

Terraced houses make up 60% of the 1,520 houses currently advertised in Reading.

Terraced
60%911
Semi-detached
19%292
Other house
11%161
Detached
10%145
Bungalow
1%11

Rent by postcode

Where Reading rent is highest and lowest

Median monthly rent grouped by outcode across 5,271 live listings in 7 outcodes. Outcodes with fewer than 3 listings are skipped to avoid skew from a single luxury rental.

Most expensive in Reading

1RG5£1,797/mo70 rentals
2RG6£1,500/mo478 rentals
3RG4£1,500/mo193 rentals

Cheapest in Reading

1RG31£1,300/mo124 rentals
2RG30£1,325/mo565 rentals
3RG1£1,400/mo3201 rentals

Features · Reading

Garden, parking, and floor area in Reading

Live signal across 7,313 Reading rentals scraped from six UK portals. Coverage varies by portal — figures below show the share of listings whose advertiser surfaces the feature.

Garden

81%

of 1,427 Reading listings advertise a garden, patio, or terrace.

Parking

81%

of 2,590 Reading listings include parking, a driveway, or a garage.

Floor area · £/sqft

£2.54 /sqft

Median 721 sqft across 904 Reading listings that publish floor area.

Live from the portals

New rentals in Reading this week

76 homes came onto the Reading rental market in the last 7 days across Rightmove, OnTheMarket, OpenRent, PrimeLocation, SpareRoom and Leaders. The freshest are below.

76 new this weekUpdated today

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

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Council tax · VOA 2024

Council tax bands across Reading

Most Reading homes sit in Band C. The weighted average works out close to Band C–D across 76,570 properties on the council-tax list.

Modal band

most common band

Mean band

3.16

≈ Band C–D

Stock

77k

76,570 properties

A
9%7,270
B
19%14,930
C
41%31,100
D
16%12,010
E
8%5,900
F
4%3,360
G
2%1,900
H
0%100

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 Reading

95% of Reading premises can already get full-fibre and 96% can get gigabit speeds — Ofcom Connected Nations residential coverage, July 2025.

Full fibre

95%

FTTP-ready premises

Gigabit

96%

≥1Gbit/s available

Superfast

100%

≥30Mbit/s available

Mean speed

489 Mbit/s

bucket-weighted estimate

Full fibre (FTTP)
95%
Gigabit-capable
96%
Superfast (≥30 Mbit/s)
100%

Source: Ofcom Connected Nations residential coverage by Local Authority (Reading), July 2025, covering 75,675 premises. Mean download speed is estimated from Ofcom speed-bucket midpoints.

Energy efficiency · DESNZ EPC

EPC ratings for Reading homes

50% of Reading 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

50%

good energy-efficiency stock

Bands D–G

50%

below the proposed 2030 floor

Certificates

69k

68,554 EPCs

A
0%221
B
15%10,099
C
35%23,876
D
37%25,184
E
11%7,535
F
2%1,240
G
1%399

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

Schools · GIAS · DfE

State-funded schools near Reading

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

1
Katesgrove Primary School
Primary · Community school · RG1 2NL
0.31 mi
2
Coley Primary School
Primary · Community school · RG1 6AZ
0.32 mi
3
Kendrick School
Secondary · Academy converter · RG1 5BN
0.44 mi
4
Civitas Academy
Primary · Academy sponsor led · RG1 7HL
0.50 mi
5
E P Collier Primary School
Primary · Community school · RG1 8DZ
0.60 mi

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

Area safety

Safety in Reading

Lower Crime Area

Based on the latest police data (September 2026), Reading has a lower crime rate compared to other UK cities. Across 45 of 45 postcode districts analysed, the median was 66 reported crimes per area. The most common category in Reading is Anti-social behaviour, accounting for 0% of all incidents.

Crime overview

66 crimes per area (median)
45 of 45 postcode districts covered
Data: September 2026

Most reported

Anti-social behaviour
0% of incidents

Reading ranks well for renters concerned about neighbourhood safety. Every Dwellio alert includes the area’s crime data so you can compare at a glance.

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

Area breakdown

Safety by suburb in Reading

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

Woodley has the lowest crime count of the top 5 suburbs in Reading.

Caversham
Higher crime
Most common: Shoplifting (173) · pop. ~21,000
27
per 1k
Earley
Typical for city
Most common: Violent crime (104) · pop. ~33,000
8.5
per 1k
Tilehurst
Typical for city
Most common: Violent crime (81) · pop. ~22,000
10
per 1k
Woodley
Safer area
Most common: Violent crime (59) · pop. ~32,000
5.1
per 1k
Whitley
Higher crime
Most common: Violent crime (123) · pop. ~20,000
16
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

Reading listings by portal

We watch 5 property sites for rentals in Reading.

Rightmove

4243

OpenRent

1234

SpareRoom

678

OnTheMarket

650

PrimeLocation

508

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Frequently asked

Renting in Reading — your questions answered

How much is rent in Reading?

The average (median) asking rent in Reading is £1,400 a month — a 1-bed is £1,100 and a 2-bed £1,500, based on 7,313 live listings across 5 property portals in Sept 2026.

What is the average studio rent in Reading?

The median asking rent for a studio in Reading is £978 a month, 30% below the city-wide median of £1,400, based on 495 studios currently on the market.

What is the average rent for a 1-bed flat in Reading?

The median asking rent for a 1-bed home in Reading is £1,100 a month, 21% below the city-wide median of £1,400, based on 2,601 listings currently on the market.

What is the average rent for a 2-bed flat or house in Reading?

The median asking rent for a 2-bed home in Reading is £1,500 a month, 7% above the city-wide median of £1,400, based on 1,985 listings currently on the market.

What is the average rent for a 3-bed house in Reading?

The median asking rent for a 3-bed home in Reading is £1,800 a month, 29% above the city-wide median of £1,400, based on 668 listings currently on the market.

What is the average rent for a 4-bed house in Reading?

The median asking rent for a four-bedroom-plus home in Reading is £2,700 a month, 93% above the city-wide median of £1,400, based on 886 listings currently on the market.

What is the average room rent in Reading?

The median asking rent for a room in a Reading house share is £725 a month, 48% below the city-wide median of £1,400, based on 678 rooms currently listed, mostly on SpareRoom and OpenRent.

How many rental properties are available in Reading?

There are currently 7,313 rental properties available in Reading, with 76 new listings added in the last 7 days.

Is Reading safe for renters?

Reading has a lower crime rate compared to other UK cities, with a median of 66 reported crimes per postcode area (September 2026). The most common category is Anti-social behaviour. Data from data.police.uk.

What is the most common crime in Reading?

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

Across South East

Average rent across South East

How Reading compares with the other 34 places we track in South East — median asking rent from live listings, updated September 2026.

Every city, every region, one table: the UK rental index.

Compare across the UK

Average rent in major UK cities

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

Renting guides

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