Although landlords in the South East and in particular London still enjoy the highest rental achievements across the UK, holders of landlord insurance policies in the East of England have also got something to cheer about.
Research commissioned by leading buy-to-let loan providers, Paragon, shows that property investors in the eastern corner of England are leading the way when it comes to rental yields. The figures, collated by BDRC Continental show that landlords in the East of England averaged a 7.5% rental yield in the third quarter of 2012, just ahead of Wales and the North East who came in with yields of 7.3 and 7.2 respectively.
John Heron, managing director at Paragon, is confident the sector will remain buoyant and said of the report “The average yield landlords have generated in Q3 is very good, and remains around the level we have seen for the past 12 months. It is important to remember that whilst the average yield gives a good indication of how well a rental portfolio is performing, it is just one factor that landlords need to review. Landlords will also be carefully considering the potential for house price appreciation and the outlook for tenant demand and rent levels. The regional split is fairly mixed again this quarter with the East of England taking the top spot, which could be reflective of the current level of tenant demand in this area of the country combined with softer house prices in the region. We know from other research that we have carried out, that almost all landlords (91%) think that tenant demand is either stable or growing, and this looks set to continue as we head into the last quarter.”
The report also illustrated how well professional landlords are faring, with average yields from landlords with over 20 properties 50% higher than those landlords just holding one rental property.