Best Yield Postcodes 2026 - UK's Top 25 Buy-to-Let Areas Ranked
A data-led ranking of the highest-yielding UK postcode districts for buy-to-let investors in 2026, with regional breakdowns and BRRR feasibility notes.
Executive summary
Across the 13 UK cities Proppys tracks at postcode-district level, BD1 (Bradford) leads on gross rental yield at 12.3% for 2026. The Top 5 sit between 8.8% and 12.3%, concentrated in the North East, Yorkshire, North West, and the Midlands. These are the same regions that have led on yield through the post-2020 cycle. Headline finding: every postcode in the Top 25 sits north of the M25, and 19 of the 25 are in cities where Proppys already runs full area guides at street level.
The data behind this report is drawn from PropertyData's live UK market feed (rents, asking prices, demand signals) joined with HM Land Registry sold-price history. All yields are gross of costs; methodology and exclusions are set out below.
Top 5 at a glance
- BD1 Bradford - 12.3% avg yield · £777 avg 2-bed rent
- SR1 Sunderland - 11.3% avg yield · £803 avg 2-bed rent
- NE1 Newcastle - 9.5% avg yield · £1,225 avg 2-bed rent
- HU2 Hull - 9.0% avg yield · £748 avg 2-bed rent
- NG7 Nottingham - 8.8% avg yield · £1,066 avg 2-bed rent
Methodology
Yield definition. Gross rental yield is calculated as (annual rent ÷ asking price) × 100. Annual rent uses the average advertised rent for the postcode district from PropertyData's live feed; asking price is the district average. We do not deduct mortgage costs, voids, management fees, or maintenance. Investors should run net yields against their own cost stack using Proppys' yield calculator.
Data sources. PropertyData (propertydata.co.uk) for live rental and asking-price data, refreshed within the last 30 days; HM Land Registry Price Paid Data for historical sold-price context (2018–2026, ~7.9M transactions); Proppys' own auction listings dataset for available-now lots in each postcode.
Snapshot date. Yields, rents, and demand signals are drawn from the Proppys database snapshot taken at report publication. Live numbers on /invest/[city] pages may move from this snapshot as the cache refreshes.
Exclusions. Districts with fewer than 10 comparable rental listings or 10 LR transactions over the trailing 12 months are excluded; small samples produce noisy yields. The ranking is also limited to the 13 UK cities Proppys actively covers; high-yield districts in cities Proppys does not yet have area guides for (e.g. Stoke, Burnley, Hartlepool) are intentionally left out so every postcode in this report links to a full area guide.
The Top 25 ranked
Sorted by average gross yield. Cities are mapped from postcode outcode using ONS administrative boundaries, with regional groupings following the Office for National Statistics ITL1 codes.
| # | Postcode | City | Region | Avg Yield | Avg 2-bed Rent | £/sqft |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | BD1 | Bradford | Yorkshire | 12.3% | £777 | £117 |
| 2 | SR1 | Sunderland | North East | 11.3% | £803 | - |
| 3 | NE1 | Newcastle | North East | 9.5% | £1,225 | £220 |
| 4 | HU2 | Hull | Yorkshire | 9.0% | £748 | - |
| 5 | NG7 | Nottingham | Midlands | 8.8% | £1,066 | £245 |
| 6 | LS2 | Leeds | Yorkshire | 8.7% | £1,200 | £264 |
| 7 | NE6 | Newcastle | North East | 8.5% | £1,016 | £211 |
| 8 | TS3 | Middlesbrough | North East | 8.4% | £618 | £107 |
| 9 | LS6 | Leeds | Yorkshire | 8.3% | £1,204 | £279 |
| 10 | LS3 | Leeds | Yorkshire | 8.2% | £1,221 | - |
| 11 | LS4 | Leeds | Yorkshire | 8.2% | £1,111 | £272 |
| 12 | M14 | Manchester | North West | 8.0% | £1,190 | £286 |
| 13 | L5 | Liverpool | North West | 7.9% | £868 | £169 |
| 14 | NG1 | Nottingham | Midlands | 7.7% | £1,170 | £229 |
| 15 | S3 | Sheffield | Yorkshire | 7.6% | £943 | £233 |
| 16 | TS1 | Middlesbrough | North East | 7.5% | £645 | £96 |
| 17 | BS34 | Bristol | South West | 7.4% | £1,461 | £373 |
| 18 | HU1 | Hull | Yorkshire | 7.4% | £902 | £235 |
| 19 | NE4 | Newcastle | North East | 7.4% | £1,014 | £190 |
| 20 | L4 | Liverpool | North West | 7.4% | £782 | £149 |
| 21 | B18 | Birmingham | Midlands | 7.3% | £1,196 | £242 |
| 22 | L20 | Liverpool | North West | 7.3% | £785 | £149 |
| 23 | BS16 | Bristol | South West | 7.3% | £1,399 | £383 |
| 24 | BS7 | Bristol | South West | 7.3% | £1,485 | £421 |
| 25 | TS4 | Middlesbrough | North East | 7.2% | £767 | £142 |
Regional champions
Regional yield leadership is shaped less by local policy than by the gap between rents (which scale with employment + tenant demand) and asking prices (which scale with capital growth expectations). The Top 25 distribution shows where that gap is widest right now.
Yorkshire
8 postcodes in the Top 25. Leader is BD1 (Bradford) at 12.3% avg yield. Other entries: HU2 (9.0%), LS2 (8.7%), LS6 (8.3%), LS3 (8.2%), LS4 (8.2%), S3 (7.6%), HU1 (7.4%).
North East
7 postcodes in the Top 25. Leader is SR1 (Sunderland) at 11.3% avg yield. Other entries: NE1 (9.5%), NE6 (8.5%), TS3 (8.4%), TS1 (7.5%), NE4 (7.4%), TS4 (7.2%).
Midlands
3 postcodes in the Top 25. Leader is NG7 (Nottingham) at 8.8% avg yield. Other entries: NG1 (7.7%), B18 (7.3%).
North West
4 postcodes in the Top 25. Leader is M14 (Manchester) at 8.0% avg yield. Other entries: L5 (7.9%), L4 (7.4%), L20 (7.3%).
South West
3 postcodes in the Top 25. Leader is BS34 (Bristol) at 7.4% avg yield. Other entries: BS16 (7.3%), BS7 (7.3%).
Spotlight on the Top 5
These are the five highest-yielding districts in the 2026 ranking. Each entry covers what's driving the yield, the dominant property types investors are buying, BRRR feasibility, and the risks worth pricing in.
#1 · BD1 Bradford · 12.3%
Why the yield is high. BD1 sits in Bradford's yorkshire rental market with average 2-bed rents of £777 and asking prices that have lagged the national capital-growth curve. Demand signal: Landlord's market.
Dominant stock. Mix of pre-1939 terraces and later-build flats, with a meaningful share of HMO-able 3- to 4-bed houses.
BRRR feasibility. At £117/sqft average sold price, the area meets Proppys' BRRR feasibility bar (build cost recoverable within 6–9 months refinance cycle for cosmetic refurbs). Heavier refurbs need stricter comping.
Risks. Tenant-demand classification of "Landlord's market" means rent growth may track inflation rather than outpace it. Article 4 status varies by ward. Check Proppys' BD1 area guide for street-level detail before committing.
#2 · SR1 Sunderland · 11.3%
Why the yield is high. SR1 sits in Sunderland's north east rental market with average 2-bed rents of £803 and asking prices that have lagged the national capital-growth curve. Demand signal: Landlord's market.
Dominant stock. Mix of pre-1939 terraces and later-build flats, with a meaningful share of HMO-able 3- to 4-bed houses.
BRRR feasibility. At -/sqft average sold price, the area meets Proppys' BRRR feasibility bar (build cost recoverable within 6–9 months refinance cycle for cosmetic refurbs). Heavier refurbs need stricter comping.
Risks. Tenant-demand classification of "Landlord's market" means rent growth may track inflation rather than outpace it. Article 4 status varies by ward. Check Proppys' SR1 area guide for street-level detail before committing.
#3 · NE1 Newcastle · 9.5%
Why the yield is high. NE1 sits in Newcastle's north east rental market with average 2-bed rents of £1,225 and asking prices that have lagged the national capital-growth curve. Demand signal: Balanced market.
Dominant stock. Mix of pre-1939 terraces and later-build flats, with a meaningful share of HMO-able 3- to 4-bed houses.
BRRR feasibility. At £220/sqft average sold price, the area meets Proppys' BRRR feasibility bar (build cost recoverable within 6–9 months refinance cycle for cosmetic refurbs). Heavier refurbs need stricter comping.
Risks. Tenant-demand classification of "Balanced market" means rent growth may track inflation rather than outpace it. Article 4 status varies by ward. Check Proppys' NE1 area guide for street-level detail before committing.
#4 · HU2 Hull · 9.0%
Why the yield is high. HU2 sits in Hull's yorkshire rental market with average 2-bed rents of £748 and asking prices that have lagged the national capital-growth curve. Demand signal: Landlord's market.
Dominant stock. Mix of pre-1939 terraces and later-build flats, with a meaningful share of HMO-able 3- to 4-bed houses.
BRRR feasibility. At -/sqft average sold price, the area meets Proppys' BRRR feasibility bar (build cost recoverable within 6–9 months refinance cycle for cosmetic refurbs). Heavier refurbs need stricter comping.
Risks. Tenant-demand classification of "Landlord's market" means rent growth may track inflation rather than outpace it. Article 4 status varies by ward. Check Proppys' HU2 area guide for street-level detail before committing.
#5 · NG7 Nottingham · 8.8%
Why the yield is high. NG7 sits in Nottingham's midlands rental market with average 2-bed rents of £1,066 and asking prices that have lagged the national capital-growth curve. Demand signal: Tenant's market.
Dominant stock. Mix of pre-1939 terraces and later-build flats, with a meaningful share of HMO-able 3- to 4-bed houses.
BRRR feasibility. At £245/sqft average sold price, the area meets Proppys' BRRR feasibility bar (build cost recoverable within 6–9 months refinance cycle for cosmetic refurbs). Heavier refurbs need stricter comping.
Risks. Tenant-demand classification of "Tenant's market" means rent growth may track inflation rather than outpace it. Article 4 status varies by ward. Check Proppys' NG7 area guide for street-level detail before committing.
What this report doesn't tell you
Yield isn't a return on equity. A 9% gross yield on a £80k purchase still depends on financing structure: buy with cash and the gross yield is roughly the income return, but with a 75% LTV mortgage at 6%, the ROE shifts dramatically and starts tracking refurb-and-refinance dynamics rather than gross yield.
Yield-vs-growth tradeoff. The highest-yielding districts in this report are typically lower-growth on a 3- and 5-year capital basis than London or the South East. Investors optimising for total return (income + capital) need to weight both. Proppys' area guides include 3-year and 5-year capital growth indices for this exact reason.
Vacancy and tenant quality. Average advertised rent assumes the unit gets let. Higher-yield areas often run higher voids and tenant-management costs. A 1-month void on a £700/month unit wipes out a 0.7% point of gross yield.
Area-quality caveats. The data does not capture street-by-street quality differences. A high-yield postcode average can hide good streets (yields hold up, low voids) and difficult streets (yields look great on paper, voids and arrears eat the return). Always view the postcode at street level. Proppys' "Top streets" tables on each area guide are the right starting point.
About this report
Methodology recap. Gross yields, rents, and asking prices sourced from PropertyData's UK feed; sold-price and transaction-volume data from HM Land Registry. District-level aggregation via the pd_area_data cache. Top 25 limited to the 13 UK cities Proppys covers at street level.
Data freshness. Snapshot date: published 8 May 2026. The next refresh ships January 2027 with full-year 2026 transaction data. Live numbers on Proppys' investment guide pages are continuously updated as the cache refreshes (TTL 30 days).
Media + research enquiries. Journalists and analysts can quote any figure in this report with attribution to Proppys. For data extracts, custom geographies, or interviews, contact hello@proppys.com.
Cite this report: "Proppys, Best Yield Postcodes 2026 - UK's Top 25 Buy-to-Let Areas Ranked, May 2026. Available at https://www.proppys.com/reports/best-yield-postcodes-2026."