Rented normally, you'd make about £173 a month.

Will it pay?Calculator

£173 of every £1,521 is yours to keep, each month

You keep 11p of every pound of rent. The mortgage takes 43p.

+£1,521−£650−£658−£41£173

Rent inMortgageRunning costsTaxProfit

Rent £1,521, modelled from 15 nearby lettings within 500 m

□ 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

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

£54,100 + refurb costs

£14,100 of that never comes back — stamp duty, solicitor and lender fees.

£54,100 to buy it

~£15,111

deposit · stamp duty · solicitor · feeswe haven’t been inside

□ 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 £160,000 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 £170,582 in 2004

Nothing nearby is comparable, but asking is 6% less than the £170,582 paid for it in 2004.

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

Can we trust the rent?Rent evidence

Nearby lettings back this rent

We hold too few nearby asking rents to cross-check this figure, so nothing here confirms it a second way.

+5 more

our bar: 10 within 500 m

our own middle half£1,393–£1,661/mo

■ 15 lettings within 500 m□ no nearby asks to cross-checkAdvertised rents, not signed tenancies

What will the rent borrow?Lender test

The rent carries the whole loan — it could fall 26% 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.

£1,088 needed

of £1,463 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £1,463PRA-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

Colchester, CO2 8HQ

1 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 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 · 7 we could not check

■ 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 £102 a month

Let it to the council: £3,192 a year less, but they keep paying when it is empty.

Rent by the room+£275 · £95,211 in

Standard rental+£173 · £69,211 in

Guaranteed council rent−£93 · £69,211 in

Housing-benefit rent−£294 · £69,211 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

+£4,831 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 28% in the price would leave nothing from a sale after selling costs, and you would still owe the lender any shortfall. That is the £69,211 you put in. The 5-year fix runs past this 5-year hold, so the rate reset comes after it.

−£69,211+£187,497−£4,687−£120,000+£11,232+£4,831

Cash you put inSale valueSelling costsMortgageRent keptYou walk with

◧ 2.0%/yr growth assumed