Posts Tagged ‘rental yield’
Rental Yields in London Remain Low
For property investors looking to “buy to let” in the UK, selection of the right town and property type is essential to ensuring a high rental yield. Property market research shows that average gross yields on UK residential property are still high by European standards. Yields in central London on luxurious flats and houses can be as low as 2.9% a year. That doesn’t offer much return for investors looking to maximise their annual income rather than relying on capital growth for most of the investment return. In comparison, investors in residential property in emerging European economies can expect significantly higher yields. In Hungary yields are upwards of 10%, in Poland they are above 6%. The trouble with many of these countries, however, is that their currencies and economies have been relatively unstable. In Hungary, for instance, mortgage rates have shot through the roof for many borrowers who used foreign-currency mortgages to finance their properties. The same is true in the Baltic countries. The reason rental yields in some of these countries are so high is because of all these risks.
So what then should investors who would prefer to find a buy to let property in the UK because of its stable political and economic climate do?
The first point to note is that rental yields vary considerably within the UK. Even in London the yield that can be obtained on a small flat of about 45 square meters can be almost double that of a big 200 square meter flat.
Rental yields within the UK also vary considerably from town to town. London property prices have remained the most stable during the house price crash of the past two years. In contrast they have fallen sharply in some northern cities as well as some of the less desirable parts of London such as Woolwhich and other parts south of the Thames where large numbers of apartments were built and sold to buy to let investors. Many of these developments were bought off plan by people who had no idea of what they were doing and are now standing empty.