Rented normally, it costs you £27 a month. That is £328 a year, every year you hold it.

Will it pay?Calculator

You top up £27 a month — the mortgage takes 57p of every pound of rent

Borrowing £5,048 less would close that shortfall — which is £5,048 more cash at the start, on top of the deposit.

+£1,484−£853−£658−£27

Rent inMortgageRunning costsShort by

The rent covers £1,484 of that — you cover £27

□ 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

£76,750 + refurb costs

And about £1,641 more over five years, because it loses £27 every month you hold it — before any repair. That already assumes the rent never falls.

£76,750 to buy it

deposit · stamp duty · solicitor · fees~£8,906, unseen

□ works not inspected

What would have to be true?The working

£5,000 off and it stops losing money

At the asking price you feed it £27 a month. At £203,253 the rent covers everything — leaving LBTT of £17,425 at that price.

offer £203,253

asked £210,000

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

Is the price right?Comparables

Nothing nearby is comparable — but it is 4% over its 2020 price

The dearest sold for 2.7× the cheapest, so the rent has to justify this price on its own.

you'd pay £210,000

£210,000

£255,000

£255,000

£268,000

£425,000

£465,000

£560,000

£210k£385k£560k

£210,000 cheapest£560,000 dearest

7 completed sales, same property type, last 3 years

□ 7 sold nearby, not matched on sizeHM 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.

+26 more

our bar: 10 within 500 m

our own middle half£1,255–£1,755/mo

■ 36 lettings within 1 km□ no nearby asks to cross-checkAdvertised rents, not signed tenancies

What will the rent borrow?Lender test

The rent carries £157,454 of the £157,500 loan

That £46 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.

£1,427 needed

more than the £1,427 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £1,427PRA-style test

How big is it, really?The plan

The plan and the advert, side by side 421 sq ft

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

AdvertFloorplan

410 sq ft421 sq ft431 sq ft

410 sq ft431 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

Old Town, EH8 8DD

No schools in this postcode area 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 · 4 we could not check · 3 do not apply to this property

■ from the Renters’ Rights Act 2025listing last seen 15 Sep 2026

Which strategy wins?The ways to run it

Short-stay let beats Standard rental by £676 a month

Let it to the council: £5,880 a year less, but they keep paying when it is empty.

Short-stay let+£649 · £85,656 in

15 nearby short-lets within 5.5 km · medium confidence

Standard rental−£27 · £85,656 in

Guaranteed council rent−£517 · £85,656 in

Housing-benefit rent−£673 · £85,656 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) · 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

−£12,641 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 £85,656 you put in. The 5-year fix runs past this 5-year hold, so the rate reset comes after it.

−£85,656+£238,248−£5,956−£157,500−£1,777−£12,641

Cash you put inSale valueSelling costsMortgageRent lossesYou are down

◧ 2.0%/yr growth assumed