Sunderland has by far the highest rental yields in the UK

A new analysis of Zoopla data by Landlord Resource shows the lowest-yielding and highest-yielding locations in the UK for buy to let landlords.

Sunderland has the highest average gross yield of 9.3% – a rate that is also 1% higher than in any other UK city. Rents in Sunderland are just £659 on average, which is less than half the London average.

Major UK cities such as Glasgow, Liverpool, and Newcastle also sneak into the top 10, and this reflects a pattern of Scottish and Northern English dominance in this ranking. In fact, the North East posts the top regional yield, at 7.9%. Scotland (7.9%) and the North West follow in 2nd and 3rd respectively.

Cambridge has the lowest average gross yield across major cities at 4.7%, despite monthly rents costing more than £500 less than in London on average, which obvioiusly has the highest rents and gross yields of 5.1% on average – the third-lowest in the UK.

Areas with higher rental yields in the London region, however, include Barking and Dagenham (6.2%), Newham (6%), and Bexley (5.8%).

Saif Derzi, property advisor at Landlord Resource, says: “ Before basing your buying preferences on a yield figure, you should cross-check at least two independent sources – this could include a housing portal and a lending tracker.

“While the latest data suggests that buy-to-let opportunity in the North is great for a return on investment, it will cost you growth as a result. Typically, housing prices in Southern England have risen nearly twice as fast in the past decade, compared with northern counterparts.”