Newcastle beats Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester after 30 major investment locations are assessed across rental returns, affordability, market momentum and long-term growth fundamentals
Newcastle upon Tyne has been named Britain’s strongest major property investment location heading into 2027, beating Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester in a new index comparing rental returns, affordability and long-term market fundamentals.
The Beyond Stays Group Property Investor Index 2026/27 analysed 30 major investment locations across England, Wales and Scotland using eight weighted measures, including rental yield, property prices, rental growth, rental market tightness, population and employment growth, house-price momentum and regeneration and infrastructure delivery.
Newcastle topped the table with an overall score of 79.47 out of 100, followed by Glasgow on 73.91, Liverpool on 73.13 and Manchester on 71.85.
Britain’s top 10 property investment locations by Rank, Location and Index score
1 Newcastle upon Tyne 79.47
2 Glasgow 73.91
3 Liverpool 73.13
4 Manchester 71.85
5 Hull 67.60
6 Stoke-on-Trent 64.84
7 Bristol 60.80
8 Sheffield 58.96
9 Birmingham 58.23
10 Coventry 58.09
Newcastle’s result was driven by strength across several measures rather than one standout figure. Average rents in the city grew by 9.9% over the year, the fastest rental growth of any location analysed. It also recorded the tightest rental market in the study, with currently unlet rental properties having been listed for a median of just 38 days. The city also delivered an indicative gross rental yield of 6.99%, five-year population growth of 7.92% and positive recent house-price momentum.
Glasgow took second place and recorded the strongest indicative gross rental yield in the study at 8.03%, while Liverpool’s combination of relatively accessible property prices, rental growth and wider market fundamentals helped it secure third.
Manchester ranked fourth despite a higher average property price than the top three, supported by 8.01% five-year population growth, an indicative gross rental yield of 6.59% and a maximum 10 out of 10 Regeneration & Infrastructure Delivery Score.
The findings also highlight why judging an investment location on one headline statistic alone can produce a very different picture.
Aberdeen recorded the second-highest indicative gross rental yield in the study at 7.57% but ranked only 19th overall once weaker employment growth and recent house-price momentum were considered.
Exeter recorded the strongest five-year population growth at 9.57%, but finished 26th overall, with comparatively high acquisition costs, negative recent house-price momentum and a slower-moving rental market weighing on its score.
Greater London ranked just 28th out of 30 despite receiving the maximum regeneration and infrastructure score and recording the highest average monthly rent among the locations analysed. Its average property price of £544,814, negative recent house-price momentum and comparatively slower population growth pulled down its overall result.
Hull, meanwhile, emerged as one of the study’s strongest affordability stories. It had the lowest average property price of any location analysed at £133,485 but still finished fifth overall thanks to a combination of 6.20% indicative gross rental yield, 7.2% rental growth and positive house-price momentum.
Beyond Stays Group says the findings demonstrate the importance of looking beyond headline yield or house-price growth when deciding where to build and scale a property portfolio.
“Every few months another table comes out telling landlords where to buy, and almost all of them rank on one number,” said Matt Thompson, founder of Beyond Stays Group.
“That’s not how you build a portfolio you can hold for ten years. We built this index specifically to be harder to win, because the cities that top a single measure are very often the ones, you’d regret buying into. Newcastle didn’t win by leading everything: it won by not being weak anywhere that matters.”
The full index is available on the Beyond Stays website, alongside a breakdown of all 30 locations and an interactive tool allowing users to re-rank locations by individual measures. For more information, please visit beyondstaysgroup.co.uk/property-investor-index.
Methodology – The Beyond Stays Group Property Investor Index 2026/27 analysed 30 major property investment locations across England, Wales and Scotland. Locations were assessed across eight weighted measures: Indicative gross rental yield: 20%, Average property price: 15%, Rental growth: 12.5%, Rental market tightness: 12.5%, Five-year population growth: 10%, Resident payrolled-employment growth: 10%, House-price momentum: 10% and Regeneration & Infrastructure Delivery Score: 10%.
Data were drawn from sources including the UK House Price Index, the Office for National Statistics and ONS/HMRC PAYE Real Time Information. Rental market tightness was measured using the median time currently unlet rental listings had been on the market in a late-July 2026 Home.co.uk snapshot.
Continuous metrics were adjusted for extreme observations before locations were ranked and converted to a common scoring scale. Regeneration and infrastructure were assessed using a structured framework covering transport, place regeneration, housing and mixed-use development, economic and innovation investment and delivery certainty.
Indicative gross rental yield is a market-level comparison calculated using average rent and average property price and does not account for financing, tax, management, maintenance, void periods or other operating costs.
The index assesses current market conditions heading into 2027. It is not a forecast of future property prices or investment returns.
Beyond Stays Group is a Manchester-based property management operator working with investors and portfolio owners across Management Only, Guaranteed Rent and Block Management services. Launched in January 2025, the business has grown to manage more than £3 million of client property within 18 months, built around the principle that property should be managed with the same commercial discipline as if the operator owned the asset themselves.
