Edinburgh named as top student property investment city

The research from real estate agent Chestertons takes into account a range of factors including average cost, rent charges and growth in house price.

Edinburgh, Bristol and Brighton are the best university cities to invest in student property in the UK, with Oxford further down the list in fifth place and Cambridge seventh.

The research from real estate agent Chestertons takes into account a range of factors including average cost, rent charges and growth in house prices and rates each city out of 10 with the top scoring 8.3, 7.9 and 7.8 respectively.

Reading was not far behind with 7.7, then Oxford with 7.5, York with 7.1, Cambridge and St Andrews both on seven, and Southampton and Warwick, both on 6.6 making up the rest of the top 10.

Aberystwyth in west Wales, Liverpool and Lancaster came out as the least beneficial investments among the 24 cities covered by the research, owing to more affordable rents and slower house price growth.

Aberystwyth came last with a score of just 4.3 due to the lowest graduate income of just £16,000 and housing market growth in the region of -6%. Liverpool and Lancaster, both in the North West, followed closely behind, each scoring 5.3.

‘Student lets are generally seen as a great investment. There will always be a reliable level of demand and universities can often be really helpful in pointing students your way,’ said Daniel Killick, from Chestertons.

‘Some locations, however, offer a better return than others. We were keen to get some deeper insights into the UK’s student property market and understand where the most attractive prospects are and the ones that are less likely to pay off,’ he added.