North for better returns

Landlords seeking higher rental growth should look to the north, with Scotland having the highest year-on-year rental growth at 1.74%, the Rental Index has found.

In Scotland the average rent is £750, only a little less than the UK’s average, discounting London (£773). Edinburgh City has the highest rental growth of any geography in the UK, with growth of 5.44% year-on-year.

Landlords can rest assured that there is decent rental growth to be found across the UK, particularly if they look north of London. On the face of it, landlords have had a tough time in the past few 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.

Glasgow City also has high growth of 2.59%, as does East Lothian (2.21%). Wales has the second highest growth in terms of countries (1.26%) but has lower rents of £658 on average.

Merthyr Tydfil has the second highest rental growth in the UK (4.65%) while Blaenau Gwent comes in third (3.92%). Interestingly, no Welsh region features in the 30 areas of lowest annual rental growth in the UK.

In England, Nottingham boasts the highest rate of rental growth at 3.84%. Rutland and Leicester (2.56% and 2.33% respectively) are additional reasons for landlords to consider widening their search north of London in the hunt for above average growth. In fact, the East Midlands has a higher growth rate as a region (1.98%) than Scotland.

In general, landlords looking for rental growth in London may struggle, with average growth of just 0.66%. Average rent in the capital stands at £1,906 and this has a huge impact on the UK. Average rent nationwide is £1,218, but without London this falls to £773.

The average rent for a property in the UK grew by 0.96% in the year to April, as slow rents in London (0.66%) continued to weigh down on otherwise resilient rental growth in the rest of the UK (1.11%).

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If you are looking for a new or re-mortgage do get in contact and one of our qualified advisers will be happy to help.