The North West remains the most lucrative area in the UK for landlords, according to quarterly figures from Lendinvest.
The peer-to-peer lender also said that following the recent stamp duty changes we could see a softening in house price growth next year, particularly in London.
Using data from Zoopla and the Land Registry, Manchester, Liverpool, Cardiff, Coventry and Oldham come out top for rental yields, followed closely by Sunderland, Blackburn and Durham
London and the South East lead house price growth, with all top 15 performing postcode areas for capital gains located in London and surrounding regions
Inner London takes only 18th place for rental yield, but claims first position for capital gains.
Christian Faes, CEO of LendInvest, said this quarter’s findings were surprisingly similar to figures for the last period.
“Next year, we could see some weakening in London’s dominance of capital gains tables if house price growth does soften slightly as forecast, and as new BTL stamp duty hikes take effect. Inner London margins may narrow slightly, creating opportunities for house prices in other postcode areas, particularly those in the south of England, to better compete.
“Landlords whose tax payments under the new regime make letting their properties unsustainable, may make arrangements to leave the market. In turn, we will see fewer highly geared rental properties that push up prices and take stock out of the housing supply for aspiring owner-occupiers and first-time buyers drawn to densely populated urban area for work.”
Faes said 2016 could be the year of the “cross-country landlords” – professional landlords who live in one city and rent out houses in another.
“We could expect to see more landlords letting property in the North and Midland’s major urban areas for more immediate upside, without moving from their family homes in which gains can be longer to materialise.”