When it comes to investing in property to rent out, it's essentially property in Birmingham and other major cities that will provide the biggest return.

According to The Move Channel, when shopping for a buy-to-let property, don't get sidetracked by where you'd want to live. "You're buying it for what demand wants," explained sales agent Terry Lucking. "With any investment property you've got to look at what the market wants and when it comes to city and rural lets there's more demand for towns and cities than there is for countryside - loads more."

The reason behind such popularity, explains the sales agent, is because there are more jobs in cities and more educational facilities. "As a rule, you should always buy where there is employment, education or both," explained Mr Lucking.

Another factor to keep in mind is the age of those living in the neighbourhood: if it's an older location, with people aged mainly 40 and older, then the chances are they will already own property. Younger cities mean less homeowners and more people looking to rent.

When deciding between a flat and a house, consider the fact that flats will come with management fees which could be anything from £100 to over £1000 a year. It's also important to analyse how the value of flats and houses have grown in comparison. "I would say you will typically find that leasehold flats have gone up less than half of what freehold houses have," said Mr Lucking.