According to the latest buy to let index from LSL Property Services plc average rents in March 2013 were 0.5% up on rents in February, a t £735, and are 4.2% up on the same time in 2012. This was the first increase in 5 months, there having been falls in the previous 4 months.
Not surprisingly rents increased most in London, followed by the North, but fell in the South West and in Wales.
As a result LSL calculate that the total average annual return on a buy to let property was 6.3%, which is £10,329 in cash terms made up of £7,751 of rent and £2,578 of capital appreciation.
They suggest that if property values continue to increase at current rates then an average buy to let could make a total return of 10.9%, or £18,173, over the next 12 months.
