Rental yields rose across all regions of England and Wales on an annual basis, according to Fleet Mortgage’s Rental Barometer for Q1 2026.
At a national level, average yield rose by 0.7% annual and 0.4% quarterly to reach 8.1%.
The North East retained its spot as the top yielding region with an annual increase of 0.6% to 9.8%.
As it stands, six regions — including Wales — have average rental yields of over 8%.
Three regions — Yorkshire and Humberside, Wales and East Midlands — recorded annual increases of 0.9%.
The biggest increase, of 1.1%, was recorded in the South West which now has an average rental yield of 7.8%.
Greater London, by contrast, only recorded an annual increase of 0.1% with rental yields creeping up to 6.1%.
Despite these increases, the lender flagged the impact of macroeconomic uncertainty and market volatility having impacted borrowing.
“It is important to stress that much of this data reflects the first two months of the quarter, when conditions were far more stable and pricing was easing,” said Steve Cox, chief commercial officer at Fleet Mortgages (pictured above).
“The market we are operating in today looks very different and continues to be extremely volatile for obvious reasons.
“This is likely to have a much greater impact on activity as we move through Q2, especially on the purchase side.”
