LANCASTER and Carlisle have been ranked among the university cities and towns with the lowest rental returns.

According to property website Zoopla, buy-to-let landlords looking to make decent yields on student houses may want to consider Scotland - with Edinburgh, Glasgow and Stirling coming top of the list.

Zoopla analysed rental data for four-bedroomed homes - the type of property students may be sharing - in 127 university towns and cities across the UK in September.

It identified the best and worst-performing locations by the average gross rental yield landlords might expect.

Edinburgh topped the list, with landlords expected to see a yield of 6.59 per cent.

The lowest returns were found around the London commuter belt, where landlords often face higher house prices, squeezing their potential returns.

Lawrence Hall, spokesman for Zoopla, said: "Parents keen to help their children through the high costs of university may consider the value of buying a property in a student town.

"It also comes as little surprise that with the slowing growth in the property market in the South, buy-to-let investors in the North can get the highest proportional rental returns."

The top 10 places with the highest typical rental yields, based on a four-bedroom property, according to Zoopla, were:

1. Edinburgh, 6.59 per cent

2. Glasgow, 6.49 per cent

3. Stirling, 5.76 per cent

4. Salford, 5.66 per cent

5. Belfast, 5.64 per cent

6. Dundee, 5.5 per cent

7. Hamilton, 5.38 per cent

8. Leeds, 5.25 per cent

9. Manchester, 5.17 per cent

10. Aberdeen, 5.06 per cent.

Occupying the lowest 10 places were Kingston upon Thames, Hatfield, High Wycombe, Stoke-on-Trent, Lancaster (3.14 per cent), Winchester, Carmarthen, Twickenham, Carlisle (3.31 per cent) and Egham.