New research has revealed university towns and cities are potentially the most lucrative hotspots for landlords.
Credit report company TotallyMoney surveyed more than 580,000 properties across England, Scotland and Wales, and discovered locations with high student populations boasted some of the UK’s highest rental yields.
TotallyMoney’s head of brand and marketing communications, Mark Moloney, says: “With students flocking to university cities year after year and looking for a place to live, it’s no surprise the student market is a dependable one for landlords.
“Since so many students are looking for accommodation, landlords may use this as an opportunity to drum up competition between them.”
The research comes after analysis from TotallyMoney last year revealed the top 50 most affordable university towns and cities across the UK – and ranked Norwich second.
The study considered the weekly rent of university halls, plus cinema ticket price, monthly gym membership, cappuccino and meal costs, the price of a pint at Wetherspoon and of an average doner kebab, as well as cab charges from the town or city centre to the university.
Taking first place was the University of Warwick, with a weekly rent of just £72, and cinema ticket and pint costs of £6.50 and £2.39 respectively. It also had the second cheapest kebab cost at £3.99.
The University of East Anglia came second, however, and Swansea University followed third.
London universities were shown to be the least affordable, mostly due to higher-than-average accommodation costs.
All seven of the London universities surveyed ranked in the bottom eight.