The nights are drawing in, the temperature is dropping and the leaves are falling from the trees. Halloween, bonfire night and Christmas are all approaching or have passed, and the year is reaching its final stretch.
The government confirmed the autumn budget and most within the buy to let world will feel fairly comfortable with the announcements made. Whilst there will be increased efforts to tackle the housing crisis with more money for councils to redevelop high street properties and an extension of the Help to Buy scheme, the moves are unlikely to make much difference to rising demand for rental properties.
Attitudes have been changing towards renting for some time and, as reported in Landlord Today, Kate Faulkner of the TDS Charitable Foundation has spoken recently about the relationship between growing demand and higher quality rental properties. She said: ‘Over the same period that the Private Rented Sector has gone through dramatic expansion, it has also improved considerably. Standards of rented properties are now arguably higher than ever before. The increased quality of accommodation has reduced the ‘need’ to buy.’
With all of that in mind, and despite tax changes and the tumultuous nature of Brexit, 2019 is set to be quite a big year for buy to let, so we’re going to take a look at two areas with particularly high potential for investors.
Liverpool
Not a surprising inclusion, but a necessary one. As of now, Liverpool has the top two post codes for rental yields in the country, with L7 and L6 bringing in yields of 11.79% and 11.52% respectively.
The city has been enjoying a renaissance since the local council and investors started to pump millions into the local economy and started to regenerate much of the surrounding areas. Home to two large universities it also has a student population of 70,000.
Liverpool has the cool factor, much like its contemporaries in Manchester and Leeds, and there’s no reason to suspect there will be any slowdown in 2019, with the city set to continue to reign supreme.
Have a look at yieldit’s available properties in Liverpool.
Middlesbrough
Ranking third for the town centre postcode TS1, Middlesbrough has yields of an impressive 10.94%, thanks in no small part to low entry costs and a large student population. Just next to Teesside University, TS1 has a student population of 22,000 on its doorstep.
Whilst not quite at the stages of Liverpool, Leeds or Manchester, Middlesbrough could well be on its way up the economic ladder with more smart investment into the right places and industries.
These figures were obtained through the Totally Money BTL Yields Map, and other notable inclusions are areas in the East Midlands, such as Derby, Edinburgh and Newcastle. There were few notable inclusions in the south of England.
Have a look at yieldit’s available properties in Middlesbrough.
