Manchester reclaims top spot as best city for buy to let investment

Aldermore’s annual Buy to Let City Tracker reveals Manchester as the best city in the UK for buy to let investment, followed by Glasgow and Coventry
Wigan is one of the biggest climbers jumping 21 places to number 4 in the rankings
London has fallen dramatically to 32 (down 27 places) as local landlords see poorer returns on their investment

Aldermore’s Buy to Let City Tracker¹ has named Manchester as the best city for landlords to invest in with Glasgow, Coventry, Wigan and Bristol making up the rest of the top five.

The Tracker analyses five key indicators that impact buy to let desirability: average total rent, the best short-term returns through yield, long-term return through house price growth over the past decade, the lowest number of vacancies as a proportion of total housing stock, and the percentage of the city’s population in the rental market.

Aldermore’s Buy to Let City Tracker Top 10 cities:

Ranking	2024	+/-change	2023 ranking	2022 ranking
1	Manchester	+1	Bristol	Manchester
2	Glasgow	+6	Manchester	London
3	Coventry	-	Coventry	Bristol
4	Wigan	+21	Brighton	Cambridge
5	Bristol	-4	London	Peterborough
6	Portsmouth	+1	Cambridge	Milton Keynes
7	Nottingham	+10	Portsmouth	Luton
8	Birmingham	+13	Glasgow	Reading
9	Milton Keynes	+1	Basildon	Southend
10	Peterborough	+3	Milton Keynes	Coventry

[Table of all 50 cities included in notes to editors]

Manchester wrestles back crown as best city for buy to let investors

With the best long term property price rises of all the cities (6.5% annual growth), Manchester offers the prospect of significant appreciation with landlords benefiting not only from rental income but also from the rising value of their investment over time.

Manchester also has a healthy market of tenants, with 32% of locals being private renters compared to the national average of 23%.

Wigan flies high whilst London takes a dive

A surprise this year comes from Wigan, which has jumped to 4^th place up from 25^th the year before. This was due to the city having one of the lowest proportions of vacant properties (0.6%), driving annual property price growth over the last decade (5.4%). This makes it a safer bet for landlords, even if the total return is lower.

In comparison, London dropped to 32^nd place from 5^th in 2023. Although average rents are still some of the highest across the country (£800), short term returns on rental yields (4%) and comparatively poor house-price growth (3%) are the main factors dragging the capital down.

Buy to let continues to offer landlords opportunities

The Buy to Let City Index suggests that the rental market continues to provide a good investment for landlords. The average rent per room increased by 18% from last year (£455 in 2023 vs £518 in 2024) and rental yields surged from 5.5% in 2023 to 6.9% in 2024 providing a good return on investment.

Research by Aldermore² found that there is more optimism among landlords compared to the year before, with only 31% considering leaving the sector today, compared to nearly half (48%) last year. Reassuringly almost three out of five (58%) say the value of their properties has increased in the past twelve months.

Wales continues to struggle

Wales continues to be less appealing for landlords to invest in, with Newport and Swansea once again appearing in the bottom of the table (49^th and 50^th respectively). However, there has been signs of improvement year on year with the average rental yield on a property in Swansea increasing from 4.7% in 2023 to 6.3% in 2024, whilst annual property price growth increased from 4.1% in 2023 to 4.3% in 2024.

Jon Cooper, director of mortgages at Aldermore, comments:

“We’ve seen a lot of movement within the Index this year, which is reflective of significant shifts in the rental market. Landlords continuously need to be on the ball, as difficult as that can be, reviewing their portfolios and ensuring they’re getting the most out of their investments. There are still good returns to be made in many cities, with rental income staying steady from last year and demand remaining strong with an average of ten applicants competing for each property.

"Landlords are seeing increased regulatory demands alongside shifting tenant expectations, posing a unique set of challenges. This requires them to adapt swiftly to maintain their portfolios, at the same time as continuing to offer a good standard of rental accommodation for a wide variety of tenants.

“However, with challenge comes opportunity. The current market environment presents a chance for landlords to rethink their strategies and work with their brokers to adapt and build resilience for the future."

ENDS

Notes to Editors

¹Aldermore’s Buy-to-Let City Tracker was designed by Opinium and comprises of five core indicators: average rent per room per month, short-term yield for a new buy-to-let purchase, average property price rise over the last 10 years, proportion of vacant properties in the city and size of the private rental market. The index uses a series of secondary data sources including the ONS, Census and other official housing statistics.

²Aldermore’s Landlord Survey was carried out Opinium amongst 500 landlords between 7-14^th January 2025

Aldermore’s Buy to Let City Tracker 2024 Top 50 Ranking Table:

Ranking	City	Region	Overall Score	2023 ranking
1	Manchester	North West	79	Bristol
2	Glasgow	Scotland	73	Manchester
3	Coventry	West Midlands	71	Coventry
4	Wigan	North West	67	Brighton
5	Bristol	South West	67	London
6	Portsmouth	South East	65	Cambridge
7	Nottingham	East Midlands	64	Portsmouth
8	Birmingham	West Midlands	63	Glasgow
9	Milton Keynes	South East	59	Basildon
10	Peterborough	East	59	Milton Keynes
11	Liverpool	North West	59	Reading
12	Basildon	East	59	Luton
13	Luton	East	57	Peterborough
14	Swindon	South West	57	Swindon
15	Telford	West Midlands	56	Northampton
16	Leicester	East Midlands	54	Southend
17	Southend	East	54	Nottingham
18	Edinburgh	Scotland	54	Edinburgh
19	Reading	South East	54	Norwich
20	Northampton	East Midlands	52	Maidstone
21	Derby	East Midlands	52	Birmingham
22	Belfast	Northern Ireland	52	Chelsmford
23	Norwich	East	51	Belfast
24	Brighton	South East	51	York
25	Hull	Yorkshire	50	Wigan
26	Sheffield	Yorkshire	49	Hull
27	Cambridge	East	49	Liverpool
28	Barnsley	Yorkshire	48	Oxford
29	Southampton	South East	47	Bournemouth
30	Plymouth	South West	47	Derby
31	Leeds	Yorkshire	46	Southampton
32	London	London	46	Telford
33	York	Yorkshire	45	Plymouth
34	Oxford	South East	45	Leicester
35	Warrington	North West	44	Leeds
36	Wakefield	Yorkshire	43	Newcastle
37	Stoke	West Midlands	43	Sheffield
38	Cardiff	Wales	43	Doncaster
39	Chelmsford	East	42	Barnsley
40	Maidstone	South East	42	Cardiff
41	Bradford	Yorkshire	42	Warrington
42	Newcastle	North East	41	Bradford
43	Doncaster	Yorkshire	40	Wakefield
44	Wolverhampton	West Midlands	36	Dundee
45	Bournemouth	South West	35	Stoke
46	Dundee	Scotland	34	Aberdeen
47	Aberdeen	Scotland	32	Sunderland
48	Sunderland	North East	29	Wolverhampton
49	Newport	Wales	26	Newport
50	Swansea	Wales	23	Swansea

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