Best UK Buy To Let Cities For 2026 Returns

Landlords can find some of the best buy-to-let investment returns in offbeat towns and cities, according to real-time data from investors.

Rent and house price information from 59 British cities, posted by investors, is analysed by the website Numbeo and presented as a ranking.

The top British place for buy-to-let investment is the Hertfordshire town of Watford. The town, with a population of around 100,000, is close to London and Heathrow Airport and has excellent road and rail transport links.

Terraced homes are priced around £449,000, while semi-detached houses average £572,918 and flats £286,532.

Watford offers the top gross yield of 8.9 per cent outside the town centre - well ahead of the other top six investment destinations, which posted yields in the range of 7.2 to 7.5 percent.

Best cities for buy-to-let investment 2026

The table lists the 38 cities with a gross yield of 5.0 per cent or more:

Rank	City	Price To Income Ratio	Gross Rental Yield City Centre (%)	Gross Rental Yield Outside Centre (%)	Price To Rent Ratio City Centre	Price To Rent Ratio Outside City Centre
1	Watford	9.60	4.30	8.90	23.10	11.20
2	Belfast	5.90	6.00	7.50	16.70	13.30
3	Preston	4.20	6.70	7.50	15.00	13.40
4	Swindon	4.80	9.20	7.40	10.80	13.60
5	Chester	3.60	9.00	7.40	11.20	13.50
6	Glasgow	5.30	7.70	7.20	13.00	14.00
7	Sheffield	6.50	3.90	6.90	25.50	14.60
8	Coventry	6.10	6.00	6.70	16.80	14.80
9	Cardiff	7.10	5.30	6.50	18.80	15.30
10	Liverpool	5.00	7.10	6.40	14.10	15.60
11	Canterbury	7.90	5.80	6.20	17.30	16.20
12	Peterborough	6.30	5.90	6.00	16.90	16.50
13	Portsmouth	6.00	6.30	6.00	15.90	16.70
14	Swansea	5.20	5.40	6.00	18.60	16.60
15	Manchester	6.90	7.90	5.90	12.70	17.10
16	Middlesbrough	4.70	6.30	5.90	15.80	16.80
17	Leeds	5.90	7.50	5.80	13.30	17.30
18	Sunderland	4.50	4.20	5.80	23.90	17.10
19	Bristol	9.10	5.70	5.70	17.50	17.70
20	Cambridge	9.10	4.60	5.70	22.00	17.50
21	Bournemouth	8.80	4.50	5.70	22.30	17.40
22	Colchester	7.10	4.60	5.70	21.80	17.70
23	Plymouth	6.60	5.20	5.70	19.20	17.60
24	Norwich	6.70	5.60	5.60	17.80	17.80
25	Northampton	5.10	5.50	5.60	18.10	17.80
26	York	6.60	5.70	5.50	17.50	18.10
27	Aberdeen	4.10	8.40	5.50	11.80	18.20
28	Edinburgh	7.80	5.20	5.40	19.10	18.50
29	Birmingham	6.60	5.30	5.40	18.80	18.60
30	Reading	8.30	5.70	5.30	17.40	18.80
31	Kingston upon Hull	5.20	3.90	5.30	25.70	18.90
32	Newport	6.20	6.60	5.20	15.10	19.20
33	Bradford	4.70	4.40	5.20	22.50	19.30
34	Woking	9.70	4.50	5.10	22.40	19.50
35	Leicester	7.50	4.20	5.10	23.80	19.60
36	Oxford	9.70	5.50	5.00	18.20	19.80
37	Derby	5.90	3.20	5.00	31.60	19.90
38	Carlisle	5.40	6.20	5.00	16.10	19.90

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Best UK Buy To Let Cities For 2026 Returns

Best cities for buy-to-let investment 2026

Source: Numbeo 12/02/2026