scottish property news
 

Scots see high returns from buy-to-let

by Julia Horton© The Herald
Originally published: 14.07.2007

INVESTORS with buy-to-let properties in Scotland have enjoyed the second-best returns in the UK, new figures revealed yesterday. Landlords with Scottish properties made average total returns of 17 per cent during the past year, above the UK average of 13 per cent.

Scotland was also ahead of the south-east of England, where people made 14 per cent, but trailed behind Northern Ireland, where buy-to-lets gave by far the best returns, at 36 per cent on average.

Terraced houses were the best investment, producing returns of 16 per cent overall. At an average of £116,884 they were also the cheapest type of property to buy.

The statistics, released by mortgage lender Birmingham Midshires, showed that people who bought a property to rent out saw the average value of their house increase by 7.3 per cent during the 12 months to the end of June, to £141,776. At the same time they received an average of 5.5 per cent of the property's value in rent, or around £651 a month, up from £623 in June last year.

The group said the total returns on a buy-to-let investment of 13 per cent during the year were up on the figure of 11.9 per cent for the previous 12 months.

The lowest returns in the past year were made by investors in the East Midlands who saw a return of just less than 10 per cent on their capital.