Best buy-to-let areas in the UK for 2025

Where are the fastest-growing buy-to-let areas?

A fast-growing rental market could indicate high demand from tenants and strong average rental growth.

All of this could contribute to higher annual returns for landlords, particularly if they target areas with lower than average property prices.

Our analysis of over 100,000 landlord insurance policies found that London had the highest growth* (13 per cent) in new policies between 2023 and 2024.

The English capital was followed by Midlands cities Birmingham and Leicester, which both recorded growth of 12 per cent.

The top five was completed by Leeds (11 per cent), Manchester, and Nottingham, both with annual growth of 10 per cent.

As well as taking the top spot for annual growth, London also had by far the highest number of landlord insurance policies.

Top 10 fastest-growing buy-to-let areas

2025 ranking	Area	Region	Annual growth*	2024 ranking
1	London	London	13%	10
2	Birmingham	West Midlands	12%	6
3	Leicester	East Midlands	12%	5
4	Leeds	Yorkshire and the Humber	11%	3
5	Manchester	North West	10%	7
6	Nottingham	East Midlands	10%	2
7	Bristol	South West	9%	4
8	Edinburgh	Scotland	9%	9
9	Liverpool	North West	8%	8
10	Glasgow	Scotland	7%	1

*The difference in new Simply Business landlord insurance policies bought between 2023 and 2024

Revealed: The UK’s 10 busiest rental markets

A busy rental market tends to be a positive sign for landlords. It usually means there’s a supply/demand imbalance, with more renters than properties available.

This can improve the chances of landlords letting their properties quickly and having the option to choose the most suitable tenants.

Property website Rightmove analysed rental markets across the UK to find the highest number of tenant enquiries for each property.

Wrexham in North Wales had the busiest rental market in 2024, with an average of 54 tenant enquiries for each available property.

The research shows how overall demand for rental properties dipped by 16 per cent in 2024 when compared with the previous year. 

However, the long term trend suggests that tenant demand remains high and supply of rental homes is low. Compared to 2019, there were 17 per cent more tenants looking to move in 2024, and 32 per cent fewer homes.

Read more: What is buy-to-let investment? A guide to buying and selling property

Best buy-to-let areas for return on investment

When it comes to returns, from both short-term rental yields and long-term property price growth, Manchester is the top buy-to-let area.

Aldermore’s Buy to Let City Tracker ranks locations based on returns, as well as average rents, lowest number of vacancies, and proportion of the population in the rental market. 

Its top five is made up of:

• Glasgow (up six places)
• Coventry (new entry)
• Wigan (up 21 places)
• Bristol (down four places)

Due to high average property prices, London doesn’t perform as well when it comes to yields. The capital is ranked at 32 in Aldermore’s list, down 27 places from the previous year.

Regional hotspots – are investors heading north?

As well as specific locations, it can be beneficial for investors to know which regions are performing strongly. 

Data from estate agency Hamptons shows that in the year to April 2025, 39 per cent of all buy-to-let properties bought were located in the Midlands or North England. This is up from 34 per cent in 2022 and 24 per cent in 2007.

Tax changes and higher stamp duty have discouraged landlords from buying in the South of England, where properties are generally more expensive. Some 43 per cent of buy-to-let properties were bought in the South so far in 2025, down from 53 per cent in 2015.

According to Hamptons, the North East is the UK’s ‘buy-to-let’ capital. Over the last 10 years, buy-to-let purchases have decreased in every region apart from the North East.   

And so far this year, 28 per cent of all buy-to-let purchases were in the North East, where landlords can find the highest average regional gross yield of 9.3 per cent (compared to a national average of 7.1 per cent).

Where are the best investment properties for HMO landlords?

Houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) are larger properties that can be let to three or more people from more than one household who share living facilities.

For example, a house share of five young professionals would count as a ‘large HMO’. Read our guide to HMOs for further details.

To successfully let an HMO, you need to be operating in the right market – somewhere with lots of students or young professionals could be an ideal location.

It’s no surprise that all of these cities have universities and strong employment markets, making them popular with young professionals – and so appealing to HMO landlords.

Where are the best buy-to-let areas for portfolio landlords?

Although the majority of landlords own one property, for some investors the ultimate aim is to build a property portfolio.

These landlords usually start out with one property, using the returns to buy their next property and so on.

Investors with several properties sometimes specialise in a particular niche, such as student property, or focus on a certain location.

Similar to the HMO hotspots, it’s unsurprising to see that portfolio landlords focus on big cities with high rental demand and lots of property options to choose from.

Read more: The ultimate guide to building a property portfolio

Popular buy-to-let investment areas by property type

The type of property you rent out is likely to have an impact on the prospective tenants it attracts.

For example, houses could be more popular with families, while flats may appeal to young professionals, and bungalows could be more suitable for older renters.

We’ve taken a closer look at where the most landlords took out insurance policies for different property types during 2024.

Useful guides for buy-to-let landlords

• How to do a landlord tax return
• Landlord checklist – what to do before renting out a property
• How can landlords get a buy-to-let remortgage?
• What does landlord insurance cover?