Top 10 buy-to-let hotspots unveiled

Buy-to-let has recently taken a bit of a bashing with some landlords forced to exit the market as profits drop amid a tax squeeze - but it is still possible to make a healthy return from the PRS. 

Landbay has identified the top 10 best performing local authorities for rental growth on an annual basis, with Monmouthshire in Wales leading the pack with rental growth at 3.22%.

This is followed by Nottingham (2.87%) and Conwy (2.71%) in third.

Four of the ten best performing areas are in Wales, while Scotland and England both have three apiece.

Landbay has also mapped the top 10 worst performing areas, with Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire named as he the two worst performing spots.

Both areas were heavily hit as the local economy was impacted by the drop-in oil price in 2014, but the area is showing signs of a recovery.

England has seven of the worst performing areas.

Overall, rental prices in the UK are currently increasing at the slowest pace for five years according to the latest Landbay Rental Index.

The data, powered by MIAC, has revealed that rents in the UK, excluding London, increased by just 1.18% in the 12 months to July 2018.

Despite rental growth across the UK being in positive territory there is a synchronised slowdown taking place.

In England, excluding London, the level of growth remained at 1.18% - its lowest point since April 2013. With the capital included the pace of growth slows to 0.81%.

But the capital return in London has returned to positive territory over the past couple of months, with the first annual rental increase in 18 months happening in June.

Rental growth in Scotland has hit a record low at 0.98% year-on-year. A similar picture can be seen in Wales, where rental growth reached its lowest level since June 2015.

However, with rental growth at 1.6% this remains higher than the Welsh average growth rate of 1.49%.

John Goodall, CEO and co-founder of Landbay said: “Rental growth across the UK is stuttering. However, there are signs of a recovering market in London and stronger demand for rental properties.

“On the face of it, landlords have had a tough time in the past two years from increased regulatory pressure to a significant increase in stamp duty costs, yet they have managed to shoulder many of these costs without passing them onto tenants.”

UK Rental Index by country (all beds)

UK Rental Index by region (all beds)

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