Tenants in Britain face highest rents in western Europe

It costs an average of 348 a month to rent a room in a shared property in the UK, 75 per cent more than in Spain, where rents average just 199 a month, according to flatshare website Easyroommate.co.uk.

But despite the UK having the highest average rents, the most expensive city in which to rent a room was Milan in Italy, at a typical cost of 621 per month.

London was the second most expensive place at an average of 551 a month, followed by Rome at 441, Paris at 426 and Nice at 380.

Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds also made it into the list of the top 10 most expensive cities in which to rent a room.

France was the second most expensive country in which to rent a room, but at an average of 285 a month rents were still considerably cheaper than in the UK.

The group blamed the high cost of renting a room in the UK on the lack of mortgage finance currently available, which it said was forcing potential first-time buyers to continue renting.

But it said banks on the Continent were beginning to lend again, the latest European Mortgage Federation report showing that total mortgage advances in France had risen by 29.2 per cent during 2009, while in Spain they rose 6.2 per cent.

Mortgage lending in the UK contracted by 21.4 per cent during the same period.

The director of Easyroommate.co.uk, Jonathan Moore, said: "Brits are paying more for accommodation because frustrated first-time buyers are pushing up demand for rental properties."