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Rental yield by city: gross yields for 114 English and Welsh areas, August 2026
Gross rental yield for 114 English and Welsh areas, worked out from ONS average rents and UK HPI average prices for August 2026, with the method shown.
- 5 min read
- Last reviewed 4 November 2026
- By Your Property Check team
Key answer
Part 1 of 6
What the figures show
General information, not advice. A gross rental yield is the rent a home earns in a year as a percentage of what it costs. We worked it out for every English and Welsh local authority area in our rent file, using one rent figure and one price figure per area, both for August 2026. This is a calculation from published averages, not a forecast and not a recommendation to buy anywhere.
Part 2 of 6
How we calculated it
- Rent: the mean monthly rent for all private rented homes, new lets and existing tenancies, from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Price Index of Private Rents. Our file covers the August 2026 period and was retrieved on 17 October 2026. The ONS dataset page names the release as private rent price statistics, including indices, annual percentage change and price levels.
- Price: the average price for the same local authority from the HM Land Registry UK House Price Index (UK HPI) full file for August 2026. The UK HPI collection page describes it as an official National Statistic published by HM Land Registry.
- Formula: monthly rent x 12, divided by average price.
- Matching: we matched the two on the official local authority code, so the geography is the same on both sides. Scotland is left out because ONS publishes Scottish rents for groups of councils, not single councils. That leaves 114 areas in England and Wales.
Rents cover all property types and sizes, and so does the price. A rent for a mix of flats and houses divided by a price for a mix of flats and houses is a fair like-for-like average, but it will not match any single street.
Part 3 of 6
Highest and lowest gross yields
| Area | Average rent (month) | Average price | Gross yield | Rent change 12m |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Newcastle upon Tyne | £1,215 | £211,255 | 6.9% | +9.3% |
| Portsmouth | £1,368 | £245,954 | 6.7% | +2.4% |
| Nottingham | £1,014 | £189,547 | 6.4% | +1.8% |
| Manchester | £1,373 | £256,760 | 6.4% | +4.2% |
| Southampton | £1,257 | £235,729 | 6.4% | +3.4% |
| Bristol, City of | £1,883 | £353,596 | 6.4% | +5.9% |
| Salford | £1,170 | £223,323 | 6.3% | +3.3% |
| Blackpool | £719 | £138,065 | 6.2% | +7.0% |
| Lincoln | £942 | £182,294 | 6.2% | +4.6% |
| Kingston upon Hull, City of | £694 | £136,593 | 6.1% | +7.4% |
The ten lowest in our set:
| Area | Average rent (month) | Average price | Gross yield | Rent change 12m |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rushcliffe | £1,047 | £329,528 | 3.8% | +2.8% |
| North East Derbyshire | £791 | £253,012 | 3.8% | +3.8% |
| Three Rivers | £1,826 | £590,232 | 3.7% | +2.2% |
| Buckinghamshire | £1,475 | £477,450 | 3.7% | +4.9% |
| Windsor and Maidenhead | £1,800 | £583,688 | 3.7% | +0.9% |
| East Suffolk | £842 | £277,949 | 3.6% | +5.1% |
| Wokingham | £1,466 | £491,944 | 3.6% | +1.8% |
| Shropshire | £823 | £277,521 | 3.6% | +4.3% |
| St Albans | £1,931 | £655,974 | 3.5% | +2.9% |
| Herefordshire, County of | £821 | £291,495 | 3.4% | +2.9% |
The median across all 114 areas is 4.9%. Fifty areas show 5.0% or more, and 14 show below 4.0%. The pattern is plain: where prices are lower relative to rents, yield is higher. Areas with the highest yields tend to be cities in the North, the Midlands and the South coast, while the lowest are mostly higher-priced commuter areas.
Part 4 of 6
Larger cities
| Area | Average rent (month) | Average price | Gross yield | Rent change 12m |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Newcastle upon Tyne | £1,215 | £211,255 | 6.9% | +9.3% |
| Manchester | £1,373 | £256,760 | 6.4% | +4.2% |
| Liverpool | £913 | £188,427 | 5.8% | +5.6% |
| Birmingham | £1,099 | £234,867 | 5.6% | +3.0% |
| Leeds | £1,145 | £246,385 | 5.6% | +4.2% |
| Cardiff | £1,177 | £272,443 | 5.2% | +3.5% |
| Sheffield | £931 | £217,603 | 5.1% | +4.3% |
| Oxford | £1,963 | £478,080 | 4.9% | +3.5% |
| Cambridge | £1,805 | £470,360 | 4.6% | +1.8% |
Part 5 of 6
What a high yield does not tell you
Gross yield is not return. It ignores mortgage interest, letting agent fees, repairs, insurance, empty months, service charges, licensing and tax. It also says nothing about whether prices or rents will rise or fall, which is why high-yield areas can have weaker price growth. Our price falls data story shows where prices moved down in the last 12 months.
Landlords who borrow should also test what happens if rates rise, and those holding property personally should check how interest relief now works. Our buy-to-let stress test and Section 24 calculator cover those two points, and the ROI calculator lets you put in a real price, rent and costs for one property. For a buy-to-let or HMO appraisal against a value range, try our free property deal analyser.
Part 6 of 6
Limits of this study
The two sources are averages for whole areas. A new-build flat and a Victorian terrace in the same area will have very different yields. The ONS rent covers every tenancy, including old ones at lower rents, so it can be below what a new let would achieve. ONS and HM Land Registry may revise their figures. Check each source for the latest release before relying on a number.
Our take
Use gross yield to shortlist, never to decide
Our August 2026 figures put the middle of 114 English and Welsh areas at a 4.9% gross yield, from Newcastle upon Tyne at 6.9% down to Herefordshire at 3.4%. We think the mistake is treating that as return. It ignores mortgage interest, fees, repairs, empty months and tax, and says nothing about whether prices will rise.
What Your Property Check adds: our free property deal analyser is a BTL, HMO and BRR ROI calculator anchored to a value range, so you can put real costs behind one property instead of an area average.
Our opinion, drawn from the facts on this page: not advice and not a forecast. We earn from OfferCheck reports and from introducing sellers to cash buyers, so weigh it with that in mind (see our disclosure). We are not authorised or regulated by the FCA.
Questions, answered
Frequently asked questions
What is a good rental yield?
Which UK cities have the highest yields?
Where is rental yield lowest?
How is yield different from return?
Why are Scottish areas missing?
Where this comes from
Sources
- ONS: Price Index of Private Rents, UK monthly price statistics
- HM Land Registry: UK House Price Index reports
- HM Land Registry: UK HPI full file, August 2026 (CSV)
Last reviewed 4 November 2026 by the Your Property Check team. This page is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. For your own situation, speak to a conveyancing solicitor or another qualified professional.