Average rent in Cambridge (2026)

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

Cambridge is one of the most expensive rental markets outside London — university and biotech demand chasing a deliberately constrained housing stock. New quarters like Eddington and the station area add supply, but the premium over the national average remains stark.

Cambridge currently has 1,764 live rental listings across the portals Flatscout tracks — Rightmove, Zoopla and SpareRoom — with a median asking rent of £1,650 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 Cambridge 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 Cambridge

Median monthly asking rent by bedrooms, Cambridge
BedroomsMedian rentAvailable
Studio£1,100/mo91
1 bed£1,300/mo341
2 bed£1,700/mo356
3 bed£1,950/mo173
4+ bed£2,650/mo132
Room in shared home£758/mo671

Rent by postcode district

Median monthly rent by outcode (3+ listings each), Cambridge
OutcodeMedian rentListings
CB3£1,960/mo110
CB2£1,850/mo126
CB21£1,700/mo23
CB1£1,698/mo322
CB5£1,695/mo88
CB22£1,550/mo31
CB24£1,500/mo50
CB4£1,408/mo249
CB23£1,400/mo74
CB25£1,313/mo20

Official rent trend (ONS)

The ONS Price Index of Private Rents puts the average rent across ALL Cambridge tenancies at £1,804/mo in June 2026 — up 1.8% on a year earlier. In January 2020 it was £1,368/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 £1,804/mo takes roughly 56% of the local median gross salary of £38,711 a year (ONS ASHE 2025). The conventional affordability threshold is 30%.

Property type mix

Gardens and parking

Of 1,764 live listings, 70% advertise a garden and 30% advertise parking. Portals under-report features, so treat these as a floor.

EPC energy ratings

EPC bands of live Cambridge rentals matched to certificates
BandListings
A1
B8
C26
D28
E6

Council-tax bands

VOA council-tax stock of domestic properties, Cambridge
BandProperties
Band A4,390
Band B11,060
Band C20,860
Band D10,620
Band E6,080
Band F4,000
Band G3,270
Band H510

Broadband

Residential premises coverage in Cambridge: 88% full fibre (FTTP), 94% gigabit-capable, 99% superfast (30 Mbit/s+) (Ofcom Connected Nations).

Crime

police.uk street-level data for May 2026: median 131 reported incidents per postcode district across 8 districts around the busiest rental postcodes. The most common category city-wide is violence and sexual offences (29% of reports).

Reported crimes by inner area, May 2026
AreaReports / 1,000 peopleMost common category
Cherry Hinton12.5violence and sexual offences
Chesterton31.9violence and sexual offences
City Centre54.6violence and sexual offences
Romsey39.8violence and sexual offences
Trumpington8.2violence 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 Cambridge, answered

What is the average rent in Cambridge?

The median asking rent in Cambridge is £1,650 per month for a whole property, based on 1,764 live listings tracked by Flatscout across Rightmove, Zoopla and SpareRoom (July 2026).

How many rental properties are available in Cambridge?

Flatscout is currently tracking 1,764 active rental listings in Cambridge, with 326 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 Cambridge?

The median asking rent for a one-bedroom property in Cambridge is £1,300 per month, while a room in a shared home has a median of £758 (July 2026).

Is Cambridge safe for renters?

Across 8 postcode districts analysed, the median is 131 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 Cambridge?

Renting at the ONS average of £1,804/mo takes roughly 56% of the local median gross salary of £38,711 (ONS ASHE 2025). The conventional affordability threshold is 30%.

Average rent in other cities

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