At the start of the year we bought you the first of our student investment opportunities in Manchester, and it now looks like a popular trend amongst switched on investors is about to follow.

The Move Channel's Sarah Kendall suggests in her recent column that "their lower purchase prices and higher-density living space means student properties are currently producing the best yields out of any product available on the UK market, according to new research from specialist lender Paragon.

The buy-to-let mortgage lender has commissioned a new independent report from BDRC Continental's Landlords Panel, which found student properties were currently generating an average of 6.45% rental yields, the highest of any property category in the UK buy-to-let market. Young singles offered the second-best value for money as tenants with 6.22%, whilst retirees also offered good yields of 6.16%.

Paragon's Chief Executive Neil Terrington explained that the tendency amongst students and young people towards higher density living made them valuable tenants likely to produce better overall yields. "Student yields typically outperform the wider market because they are let on a per room basis, which can generate higher rental income", said Terrington. "On the downside, they tend to require a higher degree of maintenance, so landlords have to factor that cost into their overall business models."

With demand for university attendance hitting an all-time high of 700,000 applicants this academic year, new student developments are cropping up all over the country to cope with the surging demand for housing."

For more on our latest student accommodation opportunity in Sunderland, click here to register for a full information pack.