Great time to be a Leicester landlord

Continued regeneration and a buzz in the property market is making it a great time to be a Leicester landlord right now.

New figures from Zoopla show that the average property in the city has grown from £206,115 last year to £215,257 in August. This 1.11 per cent increase shows the potential of capital gains on offer from being a Leicester landlord, while a recent East Midlands Rental Trends Tracker saw rises of 2.7 per cent year-on-year and a quarterly increase of two per cent.

These figures compare to a national average rise in asking rent, not including London, of 1.9 per cent in the last year. This includes an increase of 2.8 per cent in the six months up to August this year. This is similar to the 2.7 per cent average increase experienced over the last five years and asking rents have held up despite an average seven per cent rise in available properties.

Despite recent buy-to-let legislation having an effect on some landlords, Leicester is widely regarded as a great place to own rental property, largely because of the great value properties available to buy in the first instance, and the excellent rental yields on offer.

There are also plenty of ways to maximise your investment without being affected by recent rule changes. Commercial mixed-use properties which have a value of less than £150,000 for example, are stamp duty exempt, while limited companies are not affected by new rules governing mortgage interest tax.

In more good news for Leicester landlords, recent Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures revealed that the cost of buying or renting a home went up fastest in the East Midlands region over the last year. The increase experienced was 7.5 per cent in the year ending in July, compared to a national UK average rise of 5.1 per cent.

The ONS statistics also show that rental prices in Leicester went up by 2.8 per cent in the year until the end of August. Nationally, this figure was just 1.6 per cent and was down from 1.8 per cent in July.

The rental price increases were mostly in England, where an average rise of 1.7 per cent was experienced. In Wales, the increase was 1.3 per cent, while Scotland saw just a 0.3 per cent rise.

The East Midlands experienced the fastest increase, ahead of the South East at 2.6 per cent and the South West, with an increased figure of 2.1 per cent.

Are you looking to rent out your property in Leicester? Call our expert property team today 01162 544 555, someone will be available to advise you on our Landlord and Property Management services.