Paragon Mortgages’ first rental yield league table of 2012 has revealed that landlords in the North West have taken the top spot, achieving the highest average rental yield.

Research commissioned by the specialist buy-to-let lender has shown a significant regional shift in the rental yields achieved by landlords. Those achieving the highest average yield were in the North West, generating a yield of 6.6% – an increase from 5.9% in Q4 2011.

Independent researchers, BDRC Continental, worked with Paragon Mortgages to survey more than 500 landlords – some of which were Paragon Mortgages and Mortgage Trust customers – in the first quarter of 2012.

The Northern regions dominated the top spots, with landlords in the North East achieving an average yield of 6.5%. Following in third place was the South West with a yield of 6.4% and the East of England with 6.3%.

The overall average yield achieved by landlords in the first quarter was 6.2%, an increase on Q4 where the average yield was 5.9%. However, those Paragon landlord customers who took part in the survey reported a higher than market average yield of 7.3%.

John Heron , director of Paragon Mortgages, said: “The rental yield figure is important for landlords as it gives a good indication of how well a property