The three northern cities, along with Cardiff and London, have been named the most lucrative places to invest in buy-to-let properties, a report by Martin & Co revealed.

Rental demand was cited as one of the strongest indicators for a great buy-to-let location. The biggest factor influencing this indicator is the number of people competing to rent one particular home, which ensures investors string returns.

Manchester and Leeds are both currently experiencing particularly strong growth. And demand, which has already been increasing over recent years, will only experience bigger growth with more companies relocating to those cities.

Furthermore, the report by Martin & Co has also stated that demand is the biggest factor in the decision making process of most landlords in the UK. A total of 83% of landlords named high demand as their major reason when choosing an area to invest in.

Apart from demand, there are a couple of other factors having an effect on landlords. Some of them are: visitor destinations, centres of excellence, cultural elements, investment in infrastructure, inward investment, student population, young professionals and commuter catchment areas.

Finally, the report also looked ahead and found that for the coming year, 90% of those who already own rental properties are looking to increase their portfolio, giving a good indication of the good state the country’s private rental sector is in at the beginning of 2017.

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