The top 10 areas that provide landlords with the most profit in England have been revealed in a new survey.
Towns in Hertfordshire and Essex dominate the list to give the best returns on property outside London.
The survey has been published by property website Rightmove who say that the best area for an investor is Halstead in Essex.
The website says that the average price for a property grew from £150,000 last summer to nearly £182,000 in just 12 months.
Landlords also collected an average rent of around £7,830 – which means those landlords who bought a property in the town last year have enjoyed investment returns of 26.3%.
Provides landlords with a rental income
Second on the list is Borehamwood in Hertfordshire which provides landlords with an average rental income of £13,691 and a growth in the property’s asking price of £56,300.
Rightmove have put the figures together on all properties that have been listed for rent and sale in England and Wales but they have not made any deductions for tax and other costs.
The only town in the top 10 from the North is Cottingham in East Yorkshire.
The survey also reveals that the average rent has increased by 4.5% in areas outside of Greater London in the 12 months to the third quarter of 2015. Within London, rents grew by 3% in the same period.
The highest average increase in rents was enjoyed by landlords in the East of England where tenants paid 6.4% more.
Property affordable to investors
Rightmove also points out that six towns in their top 10 have property asking prices that are below the national average which makes them affordable to investors.
The other towns on the list are Brentwood in third place, then Cottingham followed by Purfleet, Stevenage, Bushey, Henley-on-Thames, Chatteris in Cambridgeshire and Grays in Essex.
MPs launch enquiry into rental properties energy efficiency
Meanwhile, and All-Party Parliamentary group has launched an enquiry into how energy-efficient private rental properties are.
The MPs say that the demand for all rental homes to meet the minimum energy performance rating of ‘E’ will pose ‘significant challenges’ for landlords.
Rental properties are harder to treat
The parliamentary group says that rental properties are usually harder to treat and older than other properties.
The enquiry follows the ending of the Landlord Energy Savings Allowance as well as the Green Deal.
The group is looking at the new policies that should be developed and adopted by landlords in a bid to improve household energy efficiency.
The group’s chairman, Oliver Coalvile, said: “Improving rented housing energy efficiency is a crucial issue in the market and is under scrutiny more than ever before with landlords having a challenge to meet energy efficiency requirements.”
