The Best Buy To Let Areas in the UK

When choosing a buy-to-let property, there are many elements that need to be balanced in order to get the biggest return on your investment.

While many landlords will have individual concerns and considerations that need to be made, such as keeping properties in their portfolio within a reasonable distance of their own home to make management tasks easier, there are priorities which all investors share. As such, if you’re an investor, established or aspiring, it's likely that you’re a) looking to purchase a property at a good price, and b) need to achieve a strong rental income on that property. It's only with these two requirements met that you will secure an equally healthy profit.

The most common way that landlords work out the profitability of a buy-to-let investment prior to trading contracts is to analyse the current yields being achieved by other landlords in the local area. By using this rental yield map investors are able to identify where the best buy-to-let areas are, and focus their housing search in that postcode to increase their likelihood of making a profit.

This can be time consuming to do but, in order to help you find the more lucrative areas of the UK, we’ve performed the research on your behalf. 

This article from Andrew Parker, Managing Director and Auctioneer at SDL Property Auctions, contains lists of top postcodes that currently reap generous buy-to-let yields, with explanations as to why this may be, to help streamline your property search. We’ve also included sub-lists to make sure that, whether you’re investing in Scotland, Wales, England or London-only, you have a valuable head-start.

Where in the UK has the best rental yields?

While there are many factors that come into play when identifying the best place for buy-to-let properties in the UK, there are a few indicators to keep an eye out for that help to show that an investment could pay off. If you’re considering expanding your portfolio into a new area, we suggest asking the following questions to help narrow down your search:

1. Is there a university nearby? 

Firstly, and unsurprisingly, areas with a considerable volume of students tend to be the areas of the UK offering the highest yield. University hotspots such as Liverpool, Middlesbrough and Newcastle are lucrative, buy-to-let safe bets, as consistent student term times and a regular flow of new students puts landlords in a strong position to advertise ahead of term to keep attracting tenants and ensure properties are occupied at all times.

2. How are the amenities? Are there good schools in the area?

While students provide a good source of continuous income, there’s no denying that they don’t always love and care for properties the way a landlord would want them to. If you’re concerned about the upkeep of your investment, another ideal type of tenant to consider targeting are young professionals and families. These groups tend to consider the amenities on offer near a property, such as the quality of the schools, easy access to essentials such as shops, and good transport links.

3. Is there a city nearby? Is it commuter friendly?

A priority of all renters, student, family or otherwise, is the need to get to and from their place of work or education quickly and easily. This is, of course, not a concern for renters who are looking to live in city-centre locations and are willing to pay the higher rental fee, but for those looking to save money by living a bus, car or train journey away, you can be sure they’ll be paying close attention to their commute. So, if you’re looking to purchase a buy-to-let property on the outskirts of a town or city, make sure that any potential tenants won’t be put off by an hour-long journey to work.

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What are the best rental yields in the UK?

When looking at the UK as a whole, the best buy-to-let areas are concentrated around the North of England. This is likely due to the growing demand for housing in these areas, as businesses from sectors such as technology, life sciences and professional service, which were historically maintained in highly-populated cities such as London, move further North to make the most of lower operating costs brought about by remote working. Manchester, Newcastle and Leeds are great examples of this, while surrounding areas such as Bradford and Sunderland also make the list as a result of their proximity, good transport links and lower rental costs.

What are the best buy-to-let areas in London?

While we’ve seen particularly strong profit forecasts in the high rental yield areas of the UK surpass 10%, and even 12% in the BD1 postcode area of Bradford, London’s highest yield is just over 6% in SE28. This is unsurprising as, even though the median rent for areas in London are higher than that of the rest of the UK, property values are equally high. In the NW8 postcode area (which didn’t make our top 10 list) for example, the average sold price in the last 12 months came to £1,834,966, a figure which reduced the rental yield to 3.54%, even with a median rent as high as £5,417.

Where are the high rental yield areas in England?

In a repeat of the rental yield map for the UK, England’s own list is almost exclusively northern based, with only Birmingham as an outlier from the Midlands. Of the highlighted cities, Bradford, Sunderland and Middlesbrough also all have average property values of under £100,000, making them ideal for investors looking for a steady earner with smaller start-up costs.

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What are the best rental yields in Wales?

For investors looking for buy-to-let property in Wales, the best places to focus on include the main cities of Swansea and Cardiff. Both places which appeal to students and young professionals, there are multiple postcodes with high rental yields for both Swansea and Cardiff, giving landlords with large portfolios the opportunity to target areas close together, both for travel convenience and, potentially, to cut down on management and maintenance costs by hiring the same builders, letting managers, and solicitors.

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What are the best buy-to-let areas in Scotland?

When looking at Scotland, the city which consistently has the best buy-to-rent yields is Glasgow, which dominated our list. This is unsurprising as Glasgow, alongside Edinburgh, has been named as havingone of the fastest growing local economies while also having a significantly lower average house value (£228,649 vs £375,756 in the last 12 months).

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