Buy-to-lets in London are, famously, quite a good idea – if you have the money to spend on them.
But yields have been hammered by high interest rates lately, making it crucial to buy in the right place.
Properties near major sports grounds are proving particularly lucrative, with these areas often going through developments and modernisation.
Lord’s Cricket Ground in St John’s Wood might be the best place to invest in the city, boasting rental yields of 6.9 per cent.
Properties near Oval Cricket Ground, too, offer an average yield of 6.8 per cent, according to Foxtons.
Both areas beat London’s most lucrative borough, Greenwich, which had the highest rental yield in the capital in January, at 6.1 per cent. The average rental yield in London was 4.93 per cent earlier this year.
It’s not just cricket, either: football stadiums are lucrative too.
Wembley Stadium and Crystal Palace rank high when it comes to the highest sporting venue yields, at 5.5 per cent and 5 per cent respectively.
Landlords with properties near stadiums can also benefit from a greater degree of capital appreciation.
Over the last year, postcodes home to a major sporting venue have seen property values increase by an average of 0.7 per cent.
While this may not seem like a spectacular rise, the wider boroughs in which the sports grounds are located have recorded house price falls of 3.8 per cent during the same period.
High investment and good transport links
Areas with sporting grounds naturally get more investment than those without, which acts as a natural boon for property owners.
Each of the venues listed above is also only 10 minutes from a tube station, with strong transport links across the capital.
Lord’s is set to undergo its second major development in three years, while Wembley stadium and its surrounding area has recently undergone a revamp.
Quintain has invested over £2.8bn in the transformation of Wembley Park into a neighbourhood that includes the OVO Arena Wembley, London Designer Outlet, the Hilton Hotel, Premier Inn and Boxpark Wembley.
“[There is] a great deal of ongoing investment into major sporting venues and as well as the facilities themselves, this brings many additional improvements to the surrounding area and the local infrastructure,” Foxtons CEO, Guy Gittins, said.
This benefits both the housing and rental markets, helping to boost supply and demand, which in turn ensures a strong rate of house price growth and superior yields for buy-to-let investors,” Gittens added.