National Housing Federation Reveals
Most Unaffordable UK Areas To Rent Property
Towns and cities such as Oxford and Brighton have overtaken many London borough’s as the most unaffordable places in the UK to rent, according to the National Housing Federation.
London boroughs may have the monopoly on the most expensive rents in the UK’s […]
National Housing Federation Reveals Most Unaffordable UK Areas To Rent Property
National Housing Federation Reveals
Most Unaffordable UK Areas To Rent Property
Towns and cities such as Oxford and Brighton have overtaken many London borough’s as the most unaffordable places in the UK to rent, according to the National Housing Federation.
London boroughs may have the monopoly on the most expensive rents in the UK’s private rental sector (PRS), but when factored against average local earnings, UK towns and cities such as Oxford, Brighton and Bath are calculated to be more unaffordable than many London boroughs.
The most expensive area outside of London is the Three Rivers area in Hertfordshire, where the average PRS rent swallows up over 50% of the average income of residents in the area.
Other places such as Oxford, South Bucks and Brighton are now more unaffordable than London boroughs such as Greenwich and Lewisham, with renters spending over half their salary on rent before they’ve covered any other bills.
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Best And Worst UK Property Investment Hotspots
Rental returns on buy to let properties are best in cities like Southampton, Manchester and Nottingham, where as many as one in four properties are owned by landlords in the private rented sector.
Portfolio landlords and property investors are looking beyond London to identify regions where rental yields […]
UK Cities With Best and Worst Property Investment Yields
Best And Worst UK Property Investment Hotspots
Rental returns on buy to let properties are best in cities like Southampton, Manchester and Nottingham, where as many as one in four properties are owned by landlords in the private rented sector.
Portfolio landlords and property investors are looking beyond London to identify regions where rental yields are almost three times as high as in the capital.
Rental yield is calculated by measuring the rental income against the properties cost
The latest data on buy-to-let yields provided by the HSBC bank, also shows the proportion of properties in each area that are already owned by landlords, with landlords already owning more than one in four properties in many of the top-yielding areas.
HSBC’s report draws on official data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and the UK Land Registry with rental data provided by Home.co.uk.
Top Property Investment Hotspots Revealed
- Southampton, currently tops the list for rental returns with rental yields of 8.73% Manchester has rental yields of around 7.98%
- Nottingham has rental yields of around 7.67%
- Blackpool has rental yields of around 7.63%
- Hull has rental yields of around 7.47%
In all of these areas, except Hull, private rental sector (PRS) landlords already own more than one in five properties.
These areas offer relatively low property prices and have strong demand for rental property from large student and young professional populations – the characteristics that the experts say make for excellent buy-to-let investments.
Top 10 Property Investment Hot Spots By Rental Yields
|
Rank |
Location |
Housing privately rented (%) |
Average house price |
Average monthly rent |
Gross rental yield (%) |
| 1 | Southampton | 23.42 | £143,011 | £1,040 | 8.73 |
| 2 | Manchester | 26.85 | £104,244 | £693 | 7.98 |
| 3 | Nottingham | 21.64 | £86,000 | £550 | 7.67 |
| 4 | Blackpool | 24.16 | £77,899 | £495 | 7.63 |
| 5 | Kingston upon Hull | 19.02 | £68,243 | £425 | 7.47 |
| 6 | Coventry | 19.02 | £110,029 | £650 | 7.09 |
| 7 | Oxford | 26.11 | £254,514 | £1,489 | 7.02 |
| 8 | Portsmouth | 22.28 | £146,709 | £795 | 6.50 |
| 9 | Liverpool | 21.75 | £91,175 | £494 | 6.50 |
| 10 | Cambridge | 23.91 | £185,414 | £1,001 | 6.48 |
The lowest rental yields were registered in areas such as London where recent property price rises have outpaced the growth in rental yields and in some areas like Westminster 38% of property is privately rented.
Worst 10 Property Investment Areas By Rental Yield
|
Location |
Housing privately rented (%) |
Average house price |
|
Gross rental yield (%) |
| Kensington and Chelsea | 33.97 | £1,236,605 | £2,968 | 2.88 |
| Thanet | 21.96 | £189,362 | £524 | 3.32 |
| Hastings | 27.19 | £184,787 | £520 | 3.38 |
| Haringey | 30.33 | £425,541 | £1,200 | 3.38 |
| Westminster | 37.56 | £890,272 | £2,578 | 3.47 |
| Hammersmith and Fulham | 30.05 | £685,797 | £2,004 | 3.51 |
| Richmond upon Thames | 20.55 | £540,379 | £1,699 | 3.77 |
| Camden | 30.46 | £715,831 | £2,383 | 3.99 |
| Ipswich | 18.75 | £158,925 | £546 | 4.12 |
| Lincoln | 19.36 | £124,789 | £433 | 4.16 |
Head Of Mortgages at HSBC Peter Dockar, said: “House prices in the top-yielding locations – while still out of reach among many first time buyers – are relatively affordable for landlords investing in property and the demand from young professionals has pushed up rents and driven up the returns. London is often seen as the haven of property investment with many believing the streets are paved with gold. However, while the highest rents in the country are an attractive draw for landlords, high house prices in the capital squeeze yields and limit the returns available. As a result, returns can often be far more attractive in other areas so it certainly pays for landlords to do their research.”
One Million More Rented Households In UK
Since 2009 With More To Come
It has been well documented over recent years that there has been a cultural and generational shift towards renting in the UK with “Generation Rent” emerging as the dominant force in the UK property market.
The shift towards the continental style […]
UK PRS Expanded By 1 Million Households In 5 Years
One Million More Rented Households In UK
Since 2009 With More To Come
It has been well documented over recent years that there has been a cultural and generational shift towards renting in the UK with “Generation Rent” emerging as the dominant force in the UK property market.
The shift towards the continental style of living in rented property has been largely influenced by the difficulty for people to raise the necessary deposit and finance for property ownership.
CBRE believe that significant activity by UK Buy-to-Let property investors and foreign nationals acquiring property in major towns and cities within the UK has also contributed significantly, and the influence of these interested parties is still growing.
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Local Housing Allowance (LHA) Rates Change In April
Every year the Government publish Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates that are periodically reviewed and payment levels in some UK regions may change without notice.
The April 2014 – March 2015 LHA rates have now been published and the revised list makes interesting reading for landlords and […]
New LHA Rates for 2014 -2015 Published
Local Housing Allowance (LHA) Rates Change In April
Every year the Government publish Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates that are periodically reviewed and payment levels in some UK regions may change without notice.
The April 2014 – March 2015 LHA rates have now been published and the revised list makes interesting reading for landlords and letting agents who are willing to accept tenants claiming benefits.
UK private rental sector landlords are able to ensure rental property profits by allowing their properties to be let to tenants claiming housing benefit (HB), with local authority rental payments exceeding buy-to-let mortgage payments.
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UK Buy-to-Let Needs New Landlords
The demand for rental property in the UK is such that many experts are predicting that as many as 1 in 5 households will be living in rental property as tenants by 2016.
In order for this estimate to be accurate there will need to be an additional 1.1 Million more rental properties made available in the UK private rented sector.
Experienced property investors are expanding their rental property portfolios and the demand for rental property is so strong that many new property investors are being encouraged purchase property for longer term rental yields and become landlords.
UK PRS landlords are reported to control as many as 4.8 Million PRS rental properties throughout the UK, up from the reported 2.5 Million in 2002.
PRS rental properties in London account for 27% of all residential properties while social renting now accounts for just 24%.
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UK residential property appears to remain stuck in a buyers’ market at the moment, with average residential property asking prices falling for the first time since January 2012, but there are a number of regions in the UK where residential property is becoming less affordable for working would be home buyers.
A study by the UK mortgage lender, Halifax, compared residential property prices with localised pay levels and found that the London Borough of Brent to be the least affordable place to buy a house in the UK, followed by Oxford in second place.
The average price of a residential property in Brent is 8.8 times the average local income, while in Oxford it is 7.6 times greater.
Estate agents in Oxford say a shortage of suitable housing stock in the city has pushed prices up, while residential home buyers have struggled to secure an affordable mortgage since the onset of the credit crunch.
