With the UK's rental prices soaring and demand for housing far outweighing supply, finding an affordable home feels like a near impossible task. 

However, new data has revealed the most expensive and affordable places to rent in the UK – and one of the most affordable is in East Lancashire.

As you would expect, the least affordable postcodes are in central and west London areas - West End/Soho (W1) had the highest room rents at £1,299 followed by Westminster/Belgravia/Pimlico (SW1) at £1,097 and Earl’s Court/West Brompton (SW5) at £1,060.

It’s not just the capital that’s feeling the pinch, with rents skyrocketing across the UK - all the 50 biggest towns and cities saw a year-on-year increase, and 40 of them also hit record levels.

Outside of the capital, the most expensive areas to rent in Q2 2022 were Kingston Upon Thames (£727), Twickenham (£711) and Barnet (£709). Conversely, the cheapest areas to rent a room were Darlington at £391, Huddersfield at £394 and Middlesbrough at £396.

According to the data, Burnley is the most affordable place in Lancashire to rent – and the 10th most affordable in the UK.

Currently, the average monthly room rent in Burnley is £411.

However, this figure was beaten by other northern cities including Darlington (£391) and Huddersfield (£394).

While it is the cheapest place to rent another study says it has seen the biggest house price increases in the UK since the pandemic hit.

According to the study by mortgage broker Responsible Life, house prices in Burnley have grown 37.1 per cent since the pandemic began in March 2020. 

Matt Hutchinson, SpareRoom director, said: “With rents at record highs, inflation higher than it has been for decades, and energy bills set to rise again in October, just before winter kicks in, renters are going to really struggle.

“It’s time for government to realise that simply handing out money to help people pay their rent isn’t the long-term solution – we need serious policies to provide affordable housing for everyone."

Today (3 August) housing and homeless charity, Shelter, say some tenants could miss out on the government's upcoming £400 energy rebate.

Polly Neate, Chief Executive of Shelter, said: “Tenants whose energy bills are included in their rent or service charge cannot directly claim the energy discount.

"Instead, they will be at the mercy of their landlord passing on this much-needed support. "