Renting in London: where to live along the Central line to get a speedy commute, value for money and a great social life

London renters are more than aware that the benefit of a short commute often means sacrificing size or quality of accommodation – sometimes both.

At the end of last year, east London's Mile End on the Central line topped the charts as the best-value spot for fast commutes.

Located in Zone 2, locals can get to Liverpool Street in five minutes, Holborn in 13 minutes and Oxford Circus in 15 minutes on the Central line.

Mile End is particularly popular with student renters because Queen Mary University is there, but professionals also love the burgeoning café scene on Roman Road, the thriving pubs and the vibrantly multicultural local community.

Rental properties in the area also tend to be practical – if not beautiful – thanks to the high proportion of ex-local authority properties, which offer generous layouts and evenly sized bedrooms (so no arguments over who gets the box room).

According to the latest figures from Spareroom.co.uk, the average price of a room to rent in London is £748 per month. Assuming would-be tenants are willing to pay monthly rent each of £750 per month, a search on Rightmove shows that three people in a house share could live in a three-bedroom maisonette in need of updating, with a concrete yard overlooking a car park, or a three-bedroom flat above a row of shops less than 0.2 miles from Mile End Tube station.

A couple, also paying £750 a month rent each, can find a one-bedroom loft-style conversion in a mews development, a 10-minute walk from the Tube, or a smart ground-floor flat in the conservation area with a garden and cellar.

Further east

However, for those willing to add just five minutes to their commute, renters can head two stops further east to Leyton, where they will struggle to pay as much as £750 each per month to rent an entire period house – and they’ll get a garden and dining room thrown in.

Thanks to an influx of trendy first-time buyers priced out of Hackney, the Zone 3 area offers a growing range of social options – from Grace Dent’s favourite pub, Leyton Technical, to the vegan and vegetarian hippy spot, Hornbeam Café, which serves locally co-operatively grown veg and Bike Shack, a bike shop-cum-coffee shop.

A three-bedroom end-of-terrace house less than 10 minutes’ walk from the Tube station costs just £1,900 per month and has a large living room, separate dining room, fitted kitchen and a garden, as well as three double bedrooms, a bathroom and a separate shower room – perfect for the morning shower rush.

Renting couples can spread out, with two-bedroom flats in converted period houses near the station, often with gardens, coming in well within budget.

Another stop further east is Leytonstone, where the number of restaurant openings, art trails and cinema events makes the area’s reputation as the "new Stoke Newington" seem like an understatement.

The area may be a hub for second-steppers moving further out of London for family homes, but the area’s not just about child-friendly activities. Alfred Hitchcock was born in E11 and there’s an annual festival celebrating the director’s work each July, as well as new bookshop Phlox, which serves Allpress coffee and local beer alongside the literature.

The Tube journey is only two minutes longer but the rents are cheaper still, with well-presented one-bedroom flats easily costing less than £1,100 per month, or £550 per person. Larger house shares are also more plentiful and three people sharing, and with £750 per month each to spend on rent, even able to afford a fourth bedroom – perfect for putting up visitors or even gaining extra living space.

If house sharers prefer to lower their living costs, three-bedroom houses with gardens are easy to find at £1,700 or less, the equivalent of £567 each.