Landlords operating in the East Midlands are the most optimistic about the future prospects for their rental business, according to the latest quarterly research from BVA BDRC, which examined the attitudes and experience of over 850 landlords in England and Wales.

Half of landlords in the East Midlands said they felt good or very good regarding expectations for rental yields over the next three months, with one in three (31%) reporting optimism about the prospect for capital gains.

This contrasts with landlords in Wales, where fewer than one in three (29%) felt good about the outlook for rental yields and fewer than one in seven (14%) saw the potential for capital gains. Landlords in the North East were least likely (8%) to rate the outlook for capital gains positively.

Landlords in the East Midlands, together with those in Yorkshire and Humber, also achieved the highest reported rental yield at 6.1%, compared with an average for landlords operating across all regions of 5.6%.

However, only landlords in the East of England, Yorkshire and Humber and London added to their property portfolios in the last three months. In all other areas, sellers either outweighed or were equal to buyers.