Buy-to-let landlords wishing to achieve the highest rental returns need to look at a variety of factors, but one of the most influential elements is location, with new data from yieldit suggesting that the Midlands offers the highest return on buy-to-let investments in England and Wales.

The figures, gathered from the online agency’s current available properties, shows that there is a wide divide in regions when it comes to investing in residential buy-to-let, with a 2.5% difference in net rental yields between the best performing and worst performing regions.

Of its available residential properties, the Midlands came out on top, with an average net yield of 6.6% including properties in popular commuter town, Tipton.

Yorkshire, thanks particularly to high yielding areas like Bradford and Scarborough, along with the North East, Wales and the North West followed, with each region commanding average net yields of at least 5.5% on average.

The South East and East of England lagged behind with averages of 4.4% and 4.1% respectively.

The data shows that London pulled down the average of the South East with net yields of just 3.7%.

Ryan Hughes, the head of sales at yieldit, said: “As always it’s interesting to look at which areas are performing the best in terms of NET yields. It’s no surprise to see the Midlands leading the way with attractive asking prices and rising tenant demand.”

He added: “It’s clear that high property prices in the south and London have had a negative impact on net yields and as such investors are looking further afield. As renters continue to abandon the capital in favour of our regional cities we are seeing landlords follow – a trend that shows no sign of abating any time soon.”

Average net yield by region according to yieldit’s available properties:

Midlands – 6.6%

Yorkshire – 5.7%

North East – 5.6%

Wales – 5.6%

North West – 5.5%

South East – 4.4%

Wales – 5.6%

East of England – 4.1%

London – 3.7%