Birmingham has been named the UK's buy-to-let hotspot outside London after a surge in activity.
The city has leapt to second spot for buy-to-let property purchases, according to Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) data.
The rise has been attributed to increased demand on the back of the HS2 line to London which saw Birmingham jump from seventh in the table last year.
It comes amid a resurgence of buy-to-let activity, with new data showing a rise of more than a fifth, year-on-year.
Analysis by Barclays Mortgages shows, while rents are far higher in the South East, the return to landlords in Birmingham is higher than most other regional cities.
Rents averaged £766 in the city in the first two quarters of the year, compared to £1,900 in London, but more than Manchester (£693), Leeds (£703) and Nottingham (£639).
Barclays compiled its data after analysing more than 5,000 of its buy-to-let customers who purchased a property in 2014 or 2015.
It also commissioned research among 500 buy-to-let property owners and found more than three-quarters of them owned more than one property.
Landlords in Bradford and Glasgow were particularly likely to own multiple properties, according to the survey.
Interest in the buy-to-let market has increased in recent years as poor returns on savings in the low interest rate environment have driven investors to hunt elsewhere for decent returns on their cash.
Property prices have grown strongly in some areas of the UK in recent years.
Areas situated in the London commuter belt area such as Slough, Luton and Milton Keynes are also growing in popularity as landlords look for value outside the capital.
Andy Gray, Barclays' managing director of mortgages, said: "It's encouraging to see home owners are still feeling confident about the rental market and view buy-to-let as a valuable way to support their finances."
According to recent figures from the CML, buy-to-let lending jumped by 22 per cent in May compared with a year earlier.
But in the recent Budget, it was announced landlords would see their tax breaks restricted.
Wealthier landlords receive tax relief at 40 per cent and 45 per cent but this will be restricted to 20 per cent by April 2020.
From April 2016, a "wear and tear allowance", which allows landlords to reduce the tax they pay, regardless of whether they replace furnishings in their property, will also be replaced by a new system that only allows them to get tax relief when they replace furnishings.
The top buy-to-let hotspots in 2015, according to analysis by Barclays Mortgages, with the position of these areas in 2014 in brackets:
1. (1) London
2. (7) Birmingham
3. (3) Bristol
4. (17) Nottingham
5. (18) Manchester
6. (13) Reading
7. (47) Leeds
8. (6) Southampton
9. (50) Peterborough
10. (19) Slough
11. (48) Glasgow
12. (5) Ilford
13. (4) Harrow
14. (35) Edinburgh
15. (8) Croydon
16. (212) Plymouth
17. (12) Enfield
18. (79) Swindon
19. (62) Luton
20. (28) Milton Keynes
