However, the dividend may suffer from double taxation if held in a taxable account. Vanguard pays 15% tax on the US dividends. A UK taxpayer pays an additional 7.5%, 32.5% or 38.1%. Owning shares instead the ETF has the advantage that the total tax does not suffer from the +15% which Vanguard must pay up front on any US dividends in the ETF.
The basket of shares in VHYL probably return around 3.6%. 40% are US shares. The ETF pays 3.18%. So the ETF is not as low cost as it might first appear.