Rented normally, it costs you £357 a month. That is £4,287 a year, every year you hold it.

Will it pay?Calculator

You top up £357 a month — the mortgage takes 88p of every pound of rent

Borrowing £65,947 less would close that shortfall — which is £65,947 more cash at the start, on top of the deposit.

+£1,478−£1,300−£535−£357

Rent inMortgageRunning costsShort by

The rent covers £1,478 of that — you cover £357

◧ market rent £1,478 · 10 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

£109,950 + refurb costs

And about £21,433 more over five years, because it loses £357 every month you hold it — before any repair. That already assumes the rent never falls.

£109,950 to buy it

deposit · stamp duty · solicitor · fees~£19,458, unseen

□ works not inspected

What would have to be true?The working

£85,000 off and it stops losing money

At the asking price you feed it £357 a month. At £232,063 the rent covers everything — leaving stamp duty of £13,744 at that price.

offer £232,063

asked £320,000

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

Is the price right?The deeds

Last sold for £215,000 in 2011

Nothing nearby is comparable, but asking is 49% more than the £215,000 paid for it in 2011.

□ this address’s own deeds, no comparable saleHM Land Registry Price Paid Data

What will the rent borrow?Lender test

The rent carries £156,817 of the £240,000 loan

That £83,183 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 gap is £58,092. Lenders test the rent at 7.5% and need it to cover 145% of the payment.

£2,175 needed

more than the £1,421 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £1,421PRA-style test

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

Peterborough, PE7 8HT

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 could kill thisThe checks

You would need a licence from the council first

Letting without the council’s licence is an offence, and the fee is in no figure here.

2 problems found · 1 came back clear · 5 we could not check · 1 does not apply to this property

■ from council licensing registerlisting last seen 21 Aug 2026

Which strategy wins?The ways to run it

Every way loses money — Rent by the room loses least, at £69 a month

Let it to the council: £1,260 a year less, but they keep paying when it is empty.

Rent by the room−£69 · £163,408 in

Standard rental−£357 · £129,408 in

Guaranteed council rent−£462 · £129,408 in

Housing-benefit rent−£770 · £129,408 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) · Short-stay let (no local short-let data) · Buy, improve & sell (pays out on sale)

◧ 4 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

−£34,537 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 26% in the price would leave nothing from a sale after selling costs, and you would still owe the lender any shortfall. That is the £129,408 you put in. The 5-year fix runs past this 5-year hold, so the rate reset comes after it.

−£129,408+£367,270−£9,182−£240,000−£23,217−£34,537

Cash you put inSale valueSelling costsMortgageRent lossesYou are down

◧ 2.0%/yr growth assumed