Want to make a healthy profit from a student buy-to-let? Pick a Scottish university city (and avoid Wales and the North of England)
- Edinburgh tops the rental market with a yield of 6.11%
- Scotland boasts four of the 10 most profitable buy-to-let student cities
- Average national rental income on a four bed is now 3.92%
Robert Burns, Whiskey, the Fringe. Edinburgh is famous for many things, but rental yield is not one that trips off the tongue.
However, Scotland's capital city beats all other buy-to-let contenders in the student market, offering an average income of 6.11 per cent on a four bedroom property.
It seems university cities north of the border could be the best bet for budding landlords looking to get a strong income from their property - while London will give barely pay them the average.
The winner: An Edinburgh property could bring in four times the yield of its Middlesbrough counterpart
Aberdeen is the third best payer, with an average yield of 5.66 per cent, closely followed by the 5.11 per cent on offer in Dundee and 5.07 per cent in Glasgow.
Sneaking in at second place with a 6.03 per cent yield is Coventry in the West Midlands, home to Warwick and Coventry universities.
The only entrant in the top 10 from Northern England was Bolton,while Wales was represented by Wrexham, in ninth and tenth place respectively.
London did not make it in to the top 10 at all, despite its famously sky-high rents. Swollen property prices gave the city an average rental yield of 3.97 per cent- only fractionally more than the national average of 3.92 per cent.
Regional bias: Four of the 10 best places for rental income were in Scotland
Landlords may be put off purchasing a student house in Northern England or Wales, as both had several entrants in the table of the lowest payers.
Middlesbrough came off worst of all the university towns, offering a just 1.47 per cent rental yield.
This was closely followed by a measly 1.87 per cent from Lancaster, and the 2.14 per cent on offer in Lincoln.
Meanwhile, Welsh university city Swansea and towns Carmarthen and Aberystwyth were also among the lowest yielding.
Low yield: The average monthly rent in Middlesbrough is just £314, making it not too profitable for landlords
The figures were compiled by property website Zoopla, which divided average rent in August by the cost of a property in each university town or city.
Thriving: Students in Scotland are pushing up demand for rental accommodation
Although properties in Edinburgh were 66.5 per cent more expensive than they were in Middlesbrough, landlords could charge almost seven times higher rent- bringing in a far superior income.
Zoopla's Lawrence Hall said Scotland was blessed with high student demand and relatively low property prices.
He said: 'Scottish university cities are currently offering fantastic returns for UK landlords. Many Scottish universities are now internationally renowned, with thriving undergraduate and graduate environments.
'This means demand for rental accommodation in university areas is very high, as throngs of students compete to live near their campuses. Combined with Scottish house prices still remaining relatively low, this equates to excellent yields.'
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