Top 20 best places to be a landlord in the UK

Birmingham, Bradford and Coventry have emerged as the top three places in the UK to be a landlord in a study of the best rental yields by Compare the Market.

The investigation, which aims to highlight to people considering investing in a buy-to-let property the importance of doing the right research, also found Bolton and Burnley were in the top five areas to rent out a home.

Compare the Market looked at typical house prices and rent to calculate average rental yield for potential landlords. It then combined this with Google search data to identify the places where there was greatest demand for rental properties.

And from this information it compiled a list of the top 20 best places to be a landlord in the UK.

It also took a look at the places which offered the least potential to landlords. Indeed, at the other end of the scale, Kensington and Chelsea, Powys and Camden were the worst places to be a landlord based on rental yield, popularity among renters and increase in search demand.

In fact, more than a third of the 20 worst places to be a landlord were in London – something to consider if you’re thinking about investing in property in the capital.

Scotland offers best yield

Based solely on rental yield, Scotland emerged the best place to invest – with Fife, North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire and Renfrewshire revealed as the five local authorities with the highest yield.

Four of the five top authorities in Scotland have also seen searches for rental properties double in the past two years, proving to be an increasingly popular area with renters looking to move.

However, when combing potential yield with search volumes, the research actually revealed that the top five areas overall are Birmingham, Bradford, Coventry, Bolton and Burnley as demand for rental properties in these areas appeared to be on the rise.

Although the research took into account the financial benefits of renting for landlords, anyone considering investing in buy-to-let was urged to consider some other factors too

A spokesperson for Compare the Market said: “As well as rental yield and popularity with renters, it’s worth doing some research into crime rates in the area and risk of flooding, as these factors can impact your landlord insurance premium.

“On top of that, it’s also worth thinking about the type of tenants you’d like to attract to your property.”

The top 20 places to be a landlord in the UK (Source: Compare the Market):

1. Birmingham
2. Bradford
3. Coventry
4. Bolton
5. Burnley
6. Cardiff
7. Fife
8. Norwich
9. Renfrewshire
10. Barnsley
11. Exeter
12. South Lanarkshire
13. Swansea
14. North Lanarkshire
15. West Lothian
16. Merthyr Tydfil
17. North Ayrshire
18. Oxford
19. Ipswich
20. Cambridge