Rented normally, it costs you £258 a month. That is £3,099 a year, every year you hold it.

What could kill thisThe checks

Cash buyers only — there is no mortgage on this one

The listing says no mortgage, and every figure on this page is worked with one.

2 problems found · 4 we could not check · 3 do not apply to this property

■ from the listinglisting last seen 12 Sep 2026

Will it pay?Calculator

You top up £258 a month — the mortgage takes 83p of every pound of rent

Borrowing £47,679 less would close that shortfall — which is £47,679 more cash at the start, on top of the deposit.

£1,158 mortgage

£1,401 rent in£258 short

◧ market rent £1,401 · 5 comps2 empty weeks a year assumed

What if I change my assumptions?The dials

At the asking price, 25% deposit, 6.50% charged

Change any of these 16 and every card on this page changes with it. The 6.50% is the 5.75% quoted plus a company premium.

◧ worked out from local rents

What will it cost me to buy?Breakdown

£97,175 + refurb costs

And about £15,496 more over five years, because it loses £258 every month you hold it — before any repair. That already assumes the rent never falls.

£97,175 to buy it

deposit · stamp duty · solicitor · fees~£10,764, unseen

□ works not inspected

What would have to be true?The working

£60,000 off and it stops losing money

At the asking price you feed it £258 a month. At £221,404 the rent covers everything — leaving stamp duty of £12,998 at that price.

offer £221,404

asked £285,000

◧ worked back from the rent■ stamp duty re-bandedrounded down to £5,000 — the rent it works back from is an estimate

How big is it, really?The plan

The rooms are on the plan; the total is not

The plan is on file; the floor area is not.

□ no floor area published

Is it a good location?Open the map

Nearest stop up to 1.5 km away

More than nine in ten listings we cover have one closer — and that is a straight line, not the walk.

Article 4Not assessed for this address

■ postcode area, not this address■ nearest stop in our data□ kind of stop not recordedstraight-line distance, not the walk

Which strategy wins?The ways to run it

Every way loses money — Standard rental loses least, at £258 a month

Let it to the council: £3,972 a year less, but they keep paying when it is empty.

Standard rental−£258 · £107,939 in

Guaranteed council rent−£589 · £107,939 in

Housing-benefit rent−£766 · £107,939 in

Each row: money kept a month, then the cash it ties up. Not compared: Rent by the room (only 2 bedrooms) · Do it up, then remortgage (pays back at the remortgage) · Short-stay let (no local short-let data) · Buy, improve & sell (pays out on sale)

◧ 3 ways, one measureranked on money kept each month, at the asking price

What would you walk away with?The five-year sums

−£24,147 after five years on the cash you put in, before tax on the sale

Less than the same cash would have made in a savings account, after tax on the interest. The savings account’s capital is not at risk; the property’s is. A fall of about 25% in the price would leave nothing from a sale after selling costs, and you would still owe the lender any shortfall. That is the £107,939 you put in. The 5-year fix runs past this 5-year hold, so the rate reset comes after it.

◧ 2.0%/yr growth assumed