Rented normally, you'd make about £142 a month.

Will it pay?Calculator

£142 of every £2,202 is yours to keep, each month

You keep 6p of every pound of rent. The mortgage takes 65p.

+£2,202−£1,422−£604−£33£142

Rent inMortgageRunning costsTaxProfit

Rent £2,202, modelled from 28 nearby lettings

◧ market rent £2,202 · 28 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

£120,900 + refurb costs

£33,400 of that never comes back — stamp duty, solicitor and lender fees.

£120,900 to buy it

deposit · stamp duty · solicitor · fees~£27,025, unseen

□ works not inspected

What would have to be true?

Nothing — it works at the asking price

The rent covers the mortgage, the running costs and the tax at the £350,000 asked, so there is no discount this card has to name. A lower price would be upside, not a condition.

◧ worked back from the rent

What will the rent borrow?Lender test

The rent carries £233,634 of the £262,500 loan

That £28,866 is yours to find on top of the deposit. Tested at 125% instead of 145% — a company or a basic-rate taxpayer usually is — the rent carries the whole loan. Lenders test the rent at 7.5% and need it to cover 145% of the payment.

£2,379 needed

more than the £2,117 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £2,117PRA-style test

How big is it, really?The plan

Measured off the plan, not by a surveyor 1,342 sq ft

The area comes off the plan, not a survey. Open for what that means.

□ area off the floorplan — not a survey

Is it a good location?Open the map

Cambridge, CB5 8RW

3 of 5 schools in this postcode area rated Good or Outstanding and flood risk checking… — open for the map, the schools and the rest.

Article 4Not assessed for this address

■ postcode area, not this address

What to know before you offerThe checks

Every tenancy here is periodic, with no Section 21 to end it

Tenancies are now periodic, with no Section 21 — budget a longer void.

1 problem found · 1 came back clear · 6 we could not check · 1 does not apply to this property

■ from the Renters’ Rights Act 2025listing last seen 19 Sep 2026

Which strategy wins?The ways to run it

Rent by the room beats Standard rental by £116 a month

Let it to the council: £4,464 a year less, but they keep paying when it is empty.

Rent by the room+£258 · £177,533 in

Standard rental+£142 · £147,925 in

Short-stay let+£13 · £147,925 in

8 nearby short-lets within 5.5 km · low confidence

Guaranteed council rent−£230 · £147,925 in

Housing-benefit rent−£530 · £147,925 in

Each row: money kept a month, then the cash it ties up. Not compared: Do it up, then remortgage (pays back at the remortgage) · Buy, improve & sell (pays out on sale)

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

What would you walk away with, after 5 years?The five-year sums

−£5,502 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 27% in the price would leave nothing from a sale after selling costs, and you would still owe the lender any shortfall. That is the £147,925 you put in. The 5-year fix runs past this 5-year hold, so the rate reset comes after it.

−£147,925+£405,823−£10,146−£262,500+£9,246−£5,502

Cash you put inSale valueSelling costsMortgageRent keptYou are down

◧ 2.0%/yr growth assumed

Could you let it by the room?Room by room

+£763 a month at 5 rooms on the room-add model, before tax, once converted

The floorplan supports 5 lettable rooms, and £18,633 of work gets you there.

◧ room-add model · medium confidence■ 242 room adverts in CB5Dwelfy’s room-add model, before tax