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Buy To Let Rent Returns Remain Stable Across UK

Rent returns have remained stable across the UK over the last 12 months according to the latest Your Move Rental Tracker.

Average UK rent returns are now £860 per calendar month, the same as last March and 0.1 per cent down month-on-month.

However, this figure masks regional differences, as regions such as the East of England have seen prices fall while the South West has seen rent returns growing at 3.6 per cent annually, demonstrating faster growth than any other region surveyed. The average rent in the South West is now £701.

Other areas to post strong growth include the West Midlands, where rent returns grew by 3.3 per cent to reach £638, and in the Yorkshire and the Humber region, which has average rent returns of £589 following a 2.3 per cent increase in the last 12 months.

On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, average rent returns across England & Wales were £820 this month, down 1 per cent compared with March 2018.

Buy to let property Investors in southern regions are now looking north for higher returns, as properties in northern areas continue to outstrip rival regions.

In the North East the typical property returned 5 per cent while in the North West that figure was 4.8 per cent. This contrasts with an average yield of just 3.2 per cent in London and 3.3 per cent in both the South East and South West.

The average rental yield across all of England and Wales was 4.3 per cent – the same as in February but down from the 4.4 per cent recorded a year ago.

As rent returns remained stable, so did tenant finances, with the proportion of tenants struggling with their finances remaining below 10 per cent in March.

Around 9.4 per cent of all tenancies were in arrears during the month, exactly the same ratio as found in February. The proportion of tenants in arrears remains well below both the recent and all-time highs recorded by Your Move.

The all-time high of 14.6 per cent was recorded in February 2010, while the most recent high of 13.7 per cent was in July 2017.

Martyn Alderton, National Lettings Director at Your Move, commented: ‘Yields continue to perform strongly, with just one region offering lower returns this month than in February.’

He continued: ‘We continue to see landlords in the south of England looking further afield for their next rental opportunity, as northern properties deliver stronger yields. The growth of the urban rental market has created yield hotspots for private landlords in northern cities like Manchester and Liverpool.’

Source: Residential Landlord