Scottish University cities offer best BTL returns
New research has found that University cities north of the border give the largest profit opportunities for buy-to-let investors in the UK.
A report from property website Zoopla has found that the 6.11% yield reported in the Scottish capital was the largest return recorded in Britain. In fact, Scottish cities took the third, fourth and fifth places.
Scottish success
Aberdeen came in third, with a return of 5.66%, Dundee fourth with 5.11% and Glasgow fifth with 5.07%. The only English city in the top five was Coventry, ranked second, where the average buy-to-let rental yield was 6.03%.[1]
University cities in the North of England were found to have the worst investment returns for buy-to-let landlords. The lowest rental yield in Britain, just 1.47% was recorded in Middlesbrough, home to the main Teesside University campus.[1]
The second worst performer was found to be Lancaster, where the average yield was 1.87%. Lincoln came in third lowest, with a typical yield of 2.14%. [1]
Interestingly, the report shows that the top cities housing the top performing Universities are not necessarily the best options for buy-to-let investors to gain maximum returns. Cambridge was not even in the top-ten, with an average yield of 3.65%.[1]
London’s famous School of Economics and Imperial College London had a yield of 3.97%, with Oxford fairly better, coming in at 8th on the overall list with a yield of 4.61%.[1]
Great return
‘Scottish university cities are currently offering fantastic returns for UK landlords. Many Scottish universities are now internationally renowned, with thriving undergraduate and graduate environments,’ noted Lawrence Hall of Zoopla.’[1]
Scottish University cities offer best BTL returns
He feels that, ‘this means demand for rental accommodation in university areas is very high, as throngs of students compete to live near their campuses. Combined with Scottish house prices still remaining relatively low, this equates to excellent yields.’[1]
‘Some may be surprised that the golden triangle of London, Oxford and Cambridge are not producing higher yields. However, given those areas have a pedigree of high property prices, buy-to-let investors there would likely spend a higher proportion of rental income paying off their properties’ mortgages than their counterparts north of the border,’ he added.[1]
[1] http://www.propertywire.com/news/europe/uk-universities-buy-let-2015091410976.html