How it works

Fairlet does one thing: it takes your rent and shows where it sits in the real local market. There is no clever model and nothing hidden. It compares your figure to the official rents recorded in your area, and tells you plainly what it finds.

What you tell it

Three things, all things you already know:

• Your area. The local authority you rent in, picked from a list.
• Number of bedrooms. A room in a shared house, a studio, or 1 to 4 or more bedrooms.
• Your rent. What you pay per month, in pounds.

What it compares it against

For every area and bedroom size, the official figures give three points on the local market:

• The lower quartile. A quarter of local rents are below this. It marks the cheaper end of the market.
• The median. The middle rent. Half are below it, half above. This is the fairest single number for "typical".
• The upper quartile. A quarter of local rents are above this. It marks the pricier end.

The gap between the lower and upper quartile is the middle half of the market: the ordinary, going-rate range. Fairlet draws that range and drops your rent onto it, so you can see at a glance whether you are in it, below it, or above it.

The verdict

The band your rent falls into is the honest signal, so that is what drives the verdict:

• Below the local market. Your rent is under the lower quartile. Cheaper than most nearby.
• Around the going rate. Your rent sits inside the middle-half range. This is what most people pay.
• Above the local market. Your rent is over the upper quartile. Dearer than most nearby.
• Well above the local market. Above the upper quartile and 25% or more over the median.

Alongside the verdict, Fairlet states how far above or below the median you are, as a percentage, and a rough position in the local market. Those are the descriptive numbers. The band is the one to trust.

The honest bits

These are official market estimates for your area and bedroom size, not a valuation of your exact home. Two flats with the same number of bedrooms can fairly differ on condition, size, furnishing and street. A rent above the median is not proof you are being overcharged, and one below it is not proof you are safe. Treat the number as a solid guide to the local market, and read the rest in that light.

The figures come from the Office for National Statistics. There is a full note on where the data comes from, and its limits, on the data source page.