Below is a recent article from Simple Landlords .

Savvy BTL speculators are urged to consider Salford as an investment opportunity as a league table places it in the top five of UK university towns.

Only Aston & Birmingham City, Teesside and Sunderland – in the top spot – offer better bets, the league table suggests.

And research by investments specialists Mistoria Group puts the city ahead of Manchester, Leeds and London, with median rents of £750 per month, gross annual yields of 6.8 per cent and average house prices of £131, 863.
Mish Liyanage, MD of the Mistoria Group, said: “Salford is a booming university city and is a great place to invest.”

A combination of good transport links and a wide variety of bars, restaurants, sport facilities, retail parks and open spaces mean it offers ‘something for everyone’.

Students value location and price as well as good internet access and affordable bills, she added.

Yields tend to be higher, as students settle for less space than other tenants, while occupancy is typically ‘very good,’ Ms Liyanage said, making for stable monthly income.

Student accommodation is ‘neatly countercyclical’ she noted, as ‘more people go to university during economic downturns.’

“Salford is one of the highest yielding property markers within the UK,” Mr Liyanage said. “It has undergone a significant real estate transformation during the past few years.”

The league table of university towns, by Property Partner, was published earlier this year.

Sunderland headed the list of university towns with median rents of £575, average house prices of £65,201, and brought in an average gross annual yield of 10.6 per cent.

Teesside, where houses typically sell for £56, 272, and rent for £425 pcm, saw annual yields of 9.1 per cent; Aston and Birmingham City recorded median rents of £676 and yields of 6.9 per cent.