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Winchester is home to the most vulnerable landlords

Winchester is home to the most vulnerable landlords
Winchester Cathedral
  • Tax changes mean landlords have to consider array of local factors to protect returns
  • The most exposed landlords are in Winchester where available rentals have sat empty for 248 days, rents are over half of average earnings and yields are half those of top towns and cities
  • North-South divide visible even when affordability and pace of market factored in
  • Bootle in Merseyside is the home of the most reliable rentals

London 23, July 2018 - Winchester is home to the most vulnerable rental market as tax changes magnify the threats to landlords in a world in which yield is no longer king, new research by Gatehouse Bank reveals today.

Tax changes including the second home surcharge and tapering of mortgage interest relief have constrained the buy-to-let market in recent years, resulting in an environment where yield alone can no longer be the primary consideration.

Gatehouse Bank’s analysis of a number of key landlord metrics finds that it is Winchester that offers landlords the hardest won gains followed by Cambridge, Chichester, Warwick and Reading.

The study takes into account the second tier of economic indicators including how long available rentals have been on the market, as well as the affordability ratio between average salaries and rents.

This is in contrast to studies that look solely at yield, which would currently identify Padstow, Bedford, Taunton, Shrewsbury and Salisbury as making up the least attractive buy-to-let hunting grounds. The Gatehouse Bank study, across 122 UK towns and cities, found these locations rank well above the bottom, placing 49th, 100th, 95th, 40th and 78th respectively.

Top Ten Places Landlords Are Most Vulnerable

Rank

City/ Town

Average Property Price

Average time on the market (days)

Annual Yield (%)

Rent as a % of Earnings

1

Winchester

£549,706 248 3.1 56.2
2

Cambridge

£446,938 251 2.9 45.6
3

Chichester

£413,343 269 3.3 45.8
4

Warwick

£353,197 254 3.0 40.0
5

Reading

£415,192 230 3.4 46.7
6

Woking

£515,941 229 3.6 61.3
7

Watford

£419,815 207 3.2 47.3
8

Chelmsford

£375,346 224 3.2 42.8
9

Oxford

£510,110 261 4.2 70.8
10

Guildford

£571,279 202 3.6 69.4