The East of England is the worst region in which to be a buy-to-let landlord, with rental yields of just 3.4 per cent.

Property developer, StripeHomes, examined where in England landlords can achieve the best returns, with the north proving the most valuable area in which to invest.

The North East offers the best returns of all at 4.72 per cent, followed by Yorkshire and the Humber (4.22 per cent), while the average across England is 3.86 per cent.

The price of property is considerably cheaper up north, too: the average house price in the North East is £144,032, less than half of the East of England average of £313,964.

Buy-to-let landlords seeking new investment opportunities would be advised to consider Newcastle upon Tyne, which offers the best returns (5.7 per cent), followed by Blackpool (5.54 per cent) and Stoke-on-Trent (5.47 per cent).

In total, 16 of the country’s top 20 yield locations are found north of Nottingham.

Landlords have faced additional challenges in recent years, with the pandemic affecting the reliability of rental income, while changes to regulations and tax rules have presented additional issues.

Managing director of StripeHomes, James Forrester, said: “It’s great to see a number of areas presenting strong yields to buy-to-let investors despite the government’s best efforts to reduce profit margins in an attempt to disincentivise landlords and free up housing stock for general homebuyers.

"As the backbone of the rental market, the buy-to-let sector plays an incredibly important role in providing many with a place to live, but we simply can’t expect the nation’s landlords to provide this service at a loss.

"However, the year ahead looks positive and with travel restrictions lifting, a return to face to face teaching at universities as well as a return to the physical workplace, increasing demand should help boost many areas of the market.”