How to Increase Rental Yield: Tips for Landlords

Achieving a high rental yield is one of the main goals for successful landlords. In order to cover the costs of mortgage repayments, repairs and maintenance, an adequate rental yield is essential to stay afloat.

Although you may feel constrained by property location or property prices, there are ways to maximise profits and cut outgoings.

From making simple renovations, to targeting specific tenants, here’s some straightforward advice on how to increase rental yield on your rental property.

What Does Rental Yield Mean?

As a landlord, you’ll be more than familiar with the importance of rental yields. For anyone new to the game or thinking of taking the plunge into property investment, here’s a simple definition.

Rental yield is the annual return on investment you make as a landlord on a buy-to-let property. It’s the remaining amount of money left over after rent, divided by the value of the property and is expressed as a percentage.

How to Work Out Rental Yield on Rental Property

To work out the rental yield of your property, first deduct all annual expenses and outgoings from the annual rental income, then divide this number by the purchase price of the property. Next, times this number by 100 to find the percentage yield.

Alternatively, find a free rental yield calculator online to do the hard work for you.

What is a Good Rental Yield?

In order to comfortably cover outgoings, a rental yield of 8% or more is deemed good.

However, the average rental yield differs vastly depending on location. For example, cities like Liverpool and Nottingham enjoy higher rental yields of up to 12%, while London is more challenging and tends to stay around 4 – 5%.

Decide on a Tenant Profile

Having an ideal tenant profile in mind makes it easier to tailor your property to the needs and desires of tenants. By offering an attractive property to specific renters, you’ll be able to charge premium prices and stand out from the crowd.

For example, if you are renting to young professionals, it’s worth choosing properties in areas with good transport links and furnishing the property with convenient mod-cons.

Whereas families are more interested in space, excellent local schools and extra bedrooms.

It’s impossible to please everyone. Maximise rental yields by catering to a specific tenant group and provide them with what they really want.

Location, Location, Location

As always, location is key when it comes to improving rental return.

Picking an up-and-coming area is a good idea, as property purchase prices are lower and there is potential for increased rental income as the area expands. Somewhere with good transport links, access to great schools and a growing number of bars and shops is a safe bet.

Go Green for Tenants

With sustainable living becoming increasingly popular, improving insulation and making green changes to your rental property could strengthen the appeal to certain tenants.

Improving the energy efficiency rating of your property not only saves you money on energy bills,but is also a big deciding factor for potential tenants.

Think About Facilities

Equipping your property with high quality, time-saving facilities such as dishwashers, driers and high-speed Wi-Fi will attract more tenants and place your rental property ahead of the competition.

Think about what your ideal tenant profile wants out of a rental property and go from there.

Can You Add Another Bedroom or Bathroom?

Adding a second, third or fourth bedroom to your rental property is a guaranteed way of boosting rental yield.

If a property has a large living space that isn’t entirely necessary, turning it into a bedroom could drastically improve cash flow! Just take care to comply with bedroom regulations, especially if you plan to turn it into an HMO property.

A second bathroom is another way of adding value. Although this requires a little more upheaval, the results can be well worth it, especially in larger properties.

Keep Things Fresh

If larger scale renovation is out of your budget, simple, affordable updates such as new tiling in the bathroom or a fresh lick of paint can work wonders in attracting the best tenants.

The more you can do to make your property attractive to potential tenants, the more rent you can responsibly command.

Maximise Space for Maximum Yields

Another way to add value and appeal to renters is to maximise every inch of space in your property.

This doesn’t have to mean adding extra bedrooms. It can be something as simple as providing inbuilt cupboards and clever storage spaces. This is especially important if you’re targeting growing families.

Consider Allowing Pets

Flexibility is a trait highly valued by prospective tenants. From allowing minor aesthetic alterations to saying yes to pets, remaining open to tenants helps grow your yield in the long run.

Rental properties which allow pets tend to be few and far between which means they are able to command more rent- another easy way to increase your rental yield!

Avoid Vacant Periods

Naturally, extended vacant periods will have a negative impact on your rental yield.

Asking current tenants what their plans are well in advance of the end of a tenancy is one way you can avoid this. Early preparation means you can start advertising for new occupants quickly.

In the case of an extended void period, it may be worth lowering the rent requirements to encourage tenants and minimise losses.

Make Regular Rent Reviews

It’s important to keep up with the rest of the property market. Keeping a finger on the pulse and raising or lowering rent as needed is essential for maintaining and increasing rental yield.

Factors such as a new school in the area can dramatically increase rent prices, so don’t miss out on opportunities to cash in on your property investments.

Assess Your Outgoings

Taking a regular look at all of your outgoings is an important part of managing your finances. You may find that a few simple changes could be surprisingly profitable.

Mortgage rates, for example, are always changing, and it’s possible to find good deals on property insurance on comparison websites.

Keep your eyes peeled for deals to cut costs and improve rental yield.

Keep Up to Date with Regulations

Part of being a responsible landlord includes keeping up to date with current health and safety regulations. Good maintenance of your rental property results in long-term tenancies and increased interest from renters.

Save Time and Money with A Professional Property Service

Instead of spending your time as a property manager, answering queries and sorting out viewings and check ins, allocating tasks to property professionals can help streamline your business, saving you time and money.

No Letting Go provide comprehensive property reports and essential services such as inventory management to help landlords protect their investment and increase yields.

For more information on how No Letting Go could help, visit our services page here.