Glasgow is one of the UK’s most vibrant cities, and an increasingly popular option for buy to let landlords. The surprisingly affordable housing and great yields have already tempted lots of The Landlord Link members into investing in Glasgow property – will you be next to pick up a rental property in Glasgow?
Read on for The Landlord Link’s guide to buy to let in Glasgow and discover for yourself why Glasgow is a great city for landlords.
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Why choose Glasgow for your next buy to let property
Decades of regeneration and high profile events like the Commonwealth Games and European Capital of Culture have transformed Glasgow. The city’s historic reliance on heavy industry and shipbuilding led to lean times in the 1980s, but today Glasgow is a thoroughly modern and sophisticated city. Industries like financial services, health, digital technology and green energy employ thousands of people in Glasgow, and the city has one of the largest student populations in the UK.
When Glaswegians finish work for the day, there’s plenty to entertain them in the city centre. Some of the UK’s best shopping, great restaurants, a lively nightlife scene and 20+ art galleries and museums mean there’s always something going on in Glasgow.
There’s a lot to like about buy to let property in Glasgow – not least that it’s the cheapest city in the UK to buy a property. The average sale price across the city is under £120,000 (Edinburgh is nearly twice that) while average rents are around £780 per calendar month. It’s not surprising that Glasgow appeared in our list of the best places in the UK for buy to let in 2020.
There’s good news for student landlords too. Glasgow has three universities with a total of around 65,000 students, making it one of the UK’s largest student cities. The University of Glasgow, in particular, has big expansion plans; a new Innovation campus in Govan is planned, with the ambition of turning the Glasgow waterfront into the UK’s version of Silicon Valley.
Glasgow already has the largest population in Scotland and the National Records of Scotland predicts that the population of Glasgow will grow by 36,000 over the next 25 years, an increase of 6%, increasing demand for housing. The population grew by 1.1% between 2018 and 2019.
While transport links across the city are good, improvements are planned. A major extension to Glasgow Central station for high-speed trains would allow Glaswegians to travel to London in just three hours. The authorities want to extend the Subway, Glasgow’s version of the London Tube, and create a new tram network.
If the transport plans go ahead, areas close to the new links could become property hotspots in the same way that proximity to a Subway station currently pushes up rents.
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Housing in Glasgow
When you think of property in Glasgow, the first thing that comes to mind is the typically Glaswegian tenement buildings. These four-storey blocks of flats accessed by a single stairwell were built to house the workers who flocked to Glasgow during the industrial revolution. Their size and quality vary across the city; in the affluent West End they’re often very spacious with beautiful original features.
Rental properties in Glasgow aren’t just restricted to tenement apartments though; modern city-centre apartments, family homes and HMOs are all up for grabs for savvy landlords looking to expand their rental portfolios in Glasgow.
Read The Landlord Link’s guide to buying rental property in Scotland >
The best areas for buy to let in Glasgow
As every successful landlord knows, it’s key to pick the properties that offer the best combination of purchase price, rental income and attractiveness to tenants to minimise void periods. But where should you buy a rental property in Glasgow? At The Landlord Link we’ve done the hard work for you; here are what we believe are the best places for buy to let in Glasgow.
G52: Cardonald, Mosspark and Penilee
The G52 postcode area in Glasgow is one of the best areas in the UK for buy to let yields – in fact, it’s the third-best postcode in the country overall for landlords with an average yield of 8.71%. G52 is a large area in the south-west of Glasgow, bounded to the north by the M8 and the east by the M77. With great transport links, lots of amenities and a wide range of housing stock, it’s no surprise that G52 is popular with landlords and tenants alike.
Cardonald is popular with families for its good schools, easy links into Glasgow by train or via the Clyde Tunnel and affordable house prices. It’s also convenient for the large Queen Elizabeth University Hospital complex and for Glasgow Airport. The housing stock in Cardonald is very varied – large period homes, semis, cottage flats, high rise flats and apartments for those over 55 are all available in Cardonald.
Mosspark is small but convenient with good amenities. Transport links into Glasgow city centre are easy from Mosspark or Corkerhill railway stations and there are plenty of local shops and supermarkets for day-to-day needs. Mosspark is bordered to the south by Pollok Country Park, the largest park in Glasgow.
Penilee is a small housing estate made up of mostly 1930s and 1940s-built houses and flats that were originally for social housing. Hillington West and Crookston stations provide train links into the city centre. Penilee is currently undergoing regeneration so could be an excellent place to pick up your next affordable buy to let in Glasgow.
G51: Govan, Ibrox, Linthouse
G51 is a large and varied area on the south bank of the River Clyde. Much of the area is made up of industrial estates, the large Queen Elizabeth University Hospital complex and shopping centres including Glasgow’s branch of IKEA in Braehead to the west of G51.
Govan is the major residential area in G51 and is receiving significant investment. A new bridge across the Clyde is planned, digital startups are moving in and there’s a growing food scene.
The area is very well connected to the city centre and elsewhere in Glasgow thanks to the Glasgow Subway line that runs through it with stations at Govan, Ibrox and Cessnock.
Buy to let property in Govan and the surrounding areas is again very varied. Tenement flats, semi-detached villas, modern houses and up-to-the-minute apartments are all available in G51. Landlords looking for buy to let properties in this part of Glasgow are looking at yields of around 7.32% based on an average property price of £97,500 and rent of £595 per calendar month.
G67: Cumbernauld
We’ve included Cumbernauld in this guide to the best buy to let areas in Glasgow because of its Glasgow postcode and historic links to Glasgow. Cumbernauld is a separate town, but close enough that landlords considering buy to let property in and around Glasgow should also look at property in Cumbernauld.
Cumbernauld is a new town, so almost all the housing available dates from the 1950s onward. It was built at least in part to rehouse people who’d been bombed out of their homes in Glasgow or who were living in otherwise unsuitable or overcrowded conditions in the city.
While the overall look of Cumbernauld divides opinion, there’s no doubt that it’s a convenient place to live. A number of large businesses have their base in Cumbernauld (including Irn-Bru maker AG Barr) and it’s easy to commute into Glasgow. Edinburgh is only 31 miles away.
For landlords, buy to let property in Cumbernauld is both affordable at an average price of £75,000 and profitable with a yield of around 7.2%.
G32: Shettleston, Sandyhills, Carntyne
These three areas in the East End of Glasgow have become increasingly popular in recent years. Good transport links into the city and cheaper prices than the West End make most parts of G32 a good option for landlord properties in Glasgow.
Like many parts of Glasgow, G32 has a lot of variation in property types, area characteristics and property prices within its boundaries. Average yields in G32 are around 7.13% but by choosing your rental property carefully, higher yields are possible.
Our pick in G32 is Shettleston. Shettleston is an affordable area with a good range of amenities, including a railway station, a large Tesco supermarket and a health centre. Rental properties in Shettleston include family homes and one- and two-bedroom flats in a mixture of modern blocks and traditional tenements. One-bedroom flats in Shettleston start at around £45,000 and rent at around £350-£400 per month, giving a very attractive 9.33% yield.
While Shettleston is not a traditional Glasgow student area, the University of Strathclyde is only around 5 miles from Shettleston and the area does attract students on a tight budget looking for affordable student accommodation.
Sandyhills, to the south-east of Shettleston, has a higher proportion of semi-detached villas suitable for families along with some larger-sized cottage flats and blocks of social housing. Expect to pay upwards of £55,000 for a one-bedroom flat.
Carntyne is a former coal mining area on the western edge of G32, so closest to Glasgow city centre. The coal mines closed in the late 1800s, and the area became a large housing development in the 1930s. Properties in Carntyne include semi detached villas and cottage flats.
Landlords looking for a more modern buy to let property in Carntyne should look at the family homes available on the Eastfields development. Prices are higher in Carntyne than in Sandyhills or Shettleston but the area is relatively quiet and popular with tenants.
Mount Vernon is also in G32 but property prices in this part of Glasgow are significantly higher, making good rental yields for Glasgow landlords more difficult.
Buy to let properties in Glasgow for sale on The Landlord Link
On The Landlord Link, landlords with rental properties in Glasgow can list them for sale, absolutely free. Whether you’re looking to sell your Glasgow buy to let property or buy a new rental property, join The Landlord Link and buy and sell landlord to landlord.
Take a look at the buy to let properties for sale in Glasgow available now or sell your property today.