Manchester is the best place in England and Wales for buy-to-let investment in 2026, according to a new ranking from ERE Property that scores 310 local authorities on house prices, rental yield, five-year capital growth, average rents and the size of the private rented sector.
The study puts Manchester ahead of Newcastle upon Tyne and Blackpool after combining five weighted measures. Manchester’s average property price of £251,461 sits below the UK average of £267,957, while average annual rental return reaches 6.4%. Over the past five years, prices in the city have risen 24.7%, compared with a national average of 17%, and 32.3% of households rent privately.
North West cities dominate buy-to-let rankings
Seven of the top 10 areas are in the north of England, with Manchester, Blackpool, Salford, Hyndburn, Burnley and Liverpool all making the list. Newcastle upon Tyne ranks second and is the only local authority in the study with an annual return above 7%, at 7.01%, while Blackpool places third with low entry prices and a 6.1% annual return.
Nottingham ranks fourth, followed by Salford in fifth and Hyndburn in sixth. Hyndburn stands out for the fastest five-year price growth in the table at 40.2%. At the other end of the ranking, Kensington and Chelsea sits last, with the highest average property price in the country at £1,225,499 and a 10.5% fall in values over five years.
The results will appeal to landlords looking for a mix of lower entry costs, steady rent levels and stronger regional growth. But the ranking also reflects a market where value is increasingly being found outside London rather than in it. Investors chasing headline prestige may still prefer the capital, but the stronger numbers in the North West suggest income and affordability are doing more of the heavy lifting for returns.
Rental yields and affordability drive landlord appeal
ERE Property said the index gave the heaviest weighting to average property price and annual rental yield, with five-year price growth also playing a major role. Monthly rent and the share of households living in the private rented sector were included to capture tenant demand as well as investment performance.
For landlords, that matters because a city can post strong rent growth without offering a workable entry point. Manchester appears to score well because it still combines sub-UK average pricing with a large tenant base and solid capital growth. Newcastle’s higher yield will catch attention too, but its lower private rented sector share kept it behind Manchester overall.
This follows Landlord Knowledge’s report on student-led buy-to-let hotspots, which found Cardiff leading a separate ranking on rental yields above 9%. The latest data points to a slightly different pattern, with larger northern cities moving ahead by balancing yield with scale, liquidity and long-term price growth.
Landlords comparing regions may also want to read Landlord Knowledge’s coverage of rental growth hotspots, which showed how local rent momentum can differ sharply from one market to another. That matters when headline yields look attractive but rent growth or tenant depth is weaker underneath.
Full ranking details were released by ERE Property.
What this means for landlords
- If you’re expanding: Manchester and other North West cities still look competitive on both entry price and rental income, rather than relying on capital growth alone.
- Watch for: High-yield areas where tenant demand is thinner, because headline returns can look better on paper than they do once voids and local competition are factored in.
- Bottom line: For many landlords in 2026, the best prospects may come from large regional cities where pricing remains manageable and rental demand is already well established.
Editor’s view
Manchester topping this table will not surprise many landlords, but the bigger point is what sits behind it. London is still expensive to enter and harder to make stack up on yield, while several northern cities now offer a more practical route to income and growth at the same time.
Author: Editorial Team – UK landlord & buy-to-let news, policy, and finance
Published: 05 May 2026
Sources: ERE Property ranking release
Related reading: Cardiff tops buy-to-let hotspots as student towns deliver yields above 9%
