Rented normally, you'd make about £16 a month.

Will it pay?Calculator

£16 of every £991 is yours to keep, each month

You keep 2p of every pound of rent. The mortgage takes 41p.

+£991−£406−£565−£4£16

Rent inMortgageRunning costsTaxProfit

Rent £991, modelled from 101 nearby lettings within 1.5 km

□ service charge not published2 empty weeks a year assumed

What if I change my assumptions?The dials

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

Try your own numbersLive

You keep£16/mo

All-in cash£40,917

Payback209.0 yrs

Offer−+

Deposit−+

Mortgage rate−+

Rent−+

Worked at 6.50% — 5.75% quoted plus a company premium.

◧ worked out from local rents

What will it cost me to buy?Breakdown

£34,500 + refurb costs

£9,500 of that never comes back — stamp duty, solicitor and lender fees.

£34,500 to buy it

deposit · stamp duty · solicitor · fees~£6,417, 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 £100,000 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

Is the price right?The deeds

Last sold for £155,000 in 2019

Nothing nearby is comparable, but asking is 35% less than the £155,000 paid for it in 2019.

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

Can we trust the rent?Rent evidence

Nearby lettings, but only by searching 1.5 km

We widened the search to find them, so these are not next-door comparisons.

+91 more

our bar: 10 within 500 m

our own middle half£902–£1,089/mo

■ 101 lettings within 1.5 km□ searched wider than our barAdvertised rents, not signed tenancies

What will the rent borrow?Lender test

The rent carries the whole loan — it could fall 29% and still cover it

Your deposit is what limits this one, not the rent. Lenders test the rent at 7.5% and need it to cover 145% of the payment.

£680 needed

of £953 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £953PRA-style test

How big is it, really?The plan

The plan and the advert, side by side 350 sq ft

Two figures for this house, and neither is a survey. Open for both.

AdvertFloorplan

340 sq ft350 sq ft360 sq ft

340 sq ft360 sq ft

neither is a survey — a tape measure settles it

□ area off the floorplan — not a survey

Is it a good location?Open the map

Luton, LU4 8FF

2 of 4 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 · 3 came back clear · 2 we could not check · 2 do not apply to this property

■ from council licensing registerlisting last seen 23 Sep 2026

Which strategy wins?The ways to run it

Nothing here beats a plain let

Let it to the council: £768 a year less, but they keep paying when it is empty.

Standard rental+£16 · £40,917 in

Guaranteed council rent−£48 · £40,917 in

Housing-benefit rent−£263 · £40,917 in

Each row: money kept a month, then the cash it ties up. Not compared: Rent by the room (only 1 bedroom) · 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, after 5 years?The five-year sums

−£2,718 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 £40,917 you put in. The 5-year fix runs past this 5-year hold, so the rate reset comes after it.

−£40,917+£115,013−£2,875−£75,000+£1,061−£2,718

Cash you put inSale valueSelling costsMortgageRent keptYou are down

◧ 2.0%/yr growth assumed