Buy to let revenues increase

Paragon Mortgages' September Buy-to-Let Index has revealed a pick-up in rental incomes across all but three regions.

09:58 27 September 2004

Paragon Mortgages' September Buy-to-Let Index has revealed a pick-up in rental incomes across all but three regions.

John Heron, managing director of Paragon Mortgages, said: "Landlords across the majority of the country are seeing a rise in rental incomes, fuelled by solid demand from tenants.

"Those regions witnessing the biggest rent rises were also those which experienced the greatest rise in property values.

"Prices paid by residential property investors are still increasing, but only very slightly: in August they were up by just 0.8 per cent, in contrast with the large rises seen in the first half of the year, when investors had to compete with owner-occupiers in a busy market with limited stock available."

Rents increased in seven regions, with the largest rise in Wales, up 11.4 per cent to 8,859, the East Midlands up 6.3 per cent to 9,721, and the West Midlands up 5.5 per cent to 9,499.

Rental incomes in both the North West and East Anglia rose by over three per cent to 7,009 and 8,854 respectively, while smaller rises were seen in the South West and Yorkshire. Five out of ten regions are now registering rents of over 9,000 per year.

However, with declines in the other three regions, rents were almost unchanged nationally - at 9,524 compared with last month's 9,598.

Property values have also risen in August across eight of the ten regions, with Wales up sharply by 11.06 per cent to 126,576, the West Midlands up 7.3 per cent to 132,853 and the South West up 5.66 per cent to 181,035.

Smaller rises in values were seen across the remaining regions except the North and the South East, where prices fell slightly. Average rental property values are now 141,765, as compared with 124,128 in January, a significant increase of 14 per cent.

As a result of rises in property values over the past couple of months, yields have slipped slightly in recent months. On average, landlords are achieving a yield of 6.7 per cent gross from their investment properties.

Landlords continue to enjoy good overall returns, with total returns generated since August 2003 of just over 22 per cent (on an average property purchased that month) - a total of 27,620, comprising 18,266 in capital appreciation plus 9,354 in rental income, on a property worth 123,498 at purchase.