Jul. 19--Cash on deposit is earning next to nothing and the stock market is becalmed, with many companies unable to afford to pay dividends. So where do you go if you want a reliable income? Believe it or not, the answer for some people is property. Yes, house prices are still falling and taxpayers continue to pick up the pieces of some of the big lenders that destroyed themselves in pursuit of property-related profits. And yes, thousands of amateur buy-to-let landlords and distressed homeowners face repossession and bankruptcy.

But many of those currently eyeing property investments are cautious investors. They don't aim to make quick money from rising property prices, but just want a steady income -- and they believe current investment opportunities are outstanding.

They include couples such as the Humes, who have both suffered badly in the recession. Lisa Hume, 36, better known under her own name Lisa Knights, was a presenter on Setanta. The sports TV channel went into administration in June and Lisa, who was on maternity leave while she looked after five-week-old India, was formally told of her redundancy last week. Husband Nick, 41, was national performance director for water polo in the run-up to the 2012 Olympics, but cuts to sports funding triggered his resignation in March.

The couple, who live in Bristol and have another child, Noah, aged 22 months, have assets in the form of Lisa's redundancy, equity in their home and other savings. And although they hope to work again in their respective fields, they want their assets to generate income -- and are looking to property to provide it.

They have not invested in property before and Lisa says: "I've always thought that what people were doing was mad. Buying a property in the hope that it would go up in value was an incredible risk. We would never do that."

Instead, she and Nick are focusing on yield -- the rental return they can expect to get relative to their outlay. At present, the rent that landlords can collect from wellchosen properties can exceed, per year, ten per cent of the prices they are having to pay for properties in this depressed market.

Nick and Lisa are not fussy about the type of property -- period or modern, houses or flats. Instead, it is all about price. Lisa says: "If the price is right, the type of property or tenant doesn't matter."

The Humes have been scouting properties for months, attending auctions and researching the market online. Interest from similar buyers is on the rise, Lisa believes. "There is a change in the auction rooms," she says.