Mind the Gap – Five tube stops can reduce your rent by half in just 12 minutes

Leading room share platform, ideal flatmate, has looked at where across the London Underground network is home to some of the biggest rental savings when travelling no more than five stops.

ideal flatmate looked at the average cost of renting across the entire tube network and then looked at each line individually to see where a short hop on the tube for just five stops can see tenants reduce their rental outgoings dramatically.

Based on the below, opting to travel five stops out can see rental costs cut from £3,188 to £1,608. That’s a huge saving of £377 a month for every station and £145 for every minute extra spent on the tube!

Here’s how it breaks down by line from the largest saving per minute to lowest.

The biggest cost saving per minute is on the Jubilee line between St John’s Wood and Willesden Green, with £287 saved for every one of the nine minutes it takes to travel between the two.

While there are just two stops on the Waterloo and City line, it’s still home to the biggest cost saving per station with the average monthly rent reducing by £910 between Bank and Waterloo.

The biggest total saving is again on the Jubilee between St John’s and Willesden, closely followed by the jump between Gloucester Road and Acton Town on the Piccadilly line.

Co-founder of ideal flatmate, Tom Gatzen, commented: 

“London’s extensive tube network allows those priced out of many areas of the capital to remain within arm’s reach of where they would like to be by compromising nothing more than just a few extra stops on the tube.

Rental prices can vary drastically from one tube stop to the next so while you might have your heart set on St John’s Wood, adjusting your expectations by just nine minutes can mean remaining close by but saving nearly £3,000 a month in rent in Willesden Green.

This doesn’t just apply to house hunting, but also for work. We’d all love to work on our doorstep but this isn’t realistic for many. However, you could find a much more affordable option just minutes on the tube that will improve your monthly bank balance and your quality of life.

This mix is vital when living in London and while looking further out might see these rental savings increase, we’ve kept our search within five stops and no more than 20 minutes of each other to find the perfect mix of affordability and commuter appeal.”