Rented normally, it costs you £445 a month. That is £5,343 a year, every year you hold it.

Will it pay?Calculator

You top up £445 a month — the mortgage takes 98p of every pound of rent

Borrowing £85,486 less would close that shortfall — which is £85,486 more cash at the start, on top of the deposit.

+£1,537−£1,504−£478−£445

Rent inMortgageRunning costsShort by

The rent covers £1,537 of that — you cover £445

◧ market rent £1,537 · 11 comps2 empty weeks a year assumed

What if I change my assumptions?The dials

At the asking price, 25% deposit, 6.25% charged

Try your own numbersLive

You keep-£445/mo

All-in cash£144,439

PaybackNever

Offer−+

Deposit−+

Mortgage rate−+

Rent−+

Worked at 6.25% — 5.50% quoted plus a company premium.

◧ worked out from local rents

What will it cost me to buy?Breakdown

£133,675 + refurb costs

And about £26,714 more over five years, because it loses £445 every month you hold it — before any repair. That already assumes the rent never falls.

£133,675 to buy it

deposit · stamp duty · solicitor · fees~£10,764, unseen

□ works not inspected

What would have to be true?

We cannot price this without a postcode

Which purchase tax applies — stamp duty, LBTT or land transaction tax — is decided by the nation the address sits in, and this listing carries no postcode to resolve it. Rather than assume England and then price to the pound off it, this card does not answer. The agent can give you the postcode.

□ no postcode on the listing

What will the rent borrow?Lender test

The rent carries £163,077 of the £288,750 loan

That £125,673 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 £99,581. Lenders test the rent at 7.5% and need it to cover 145% of the payment.

£2,617 needed

more than the £1,478 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £1,478PRA-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

Cambridge

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

■ mapped to a point, not an 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 20 Aug 2026

Which strategy wins?The ways to run it

Short-stay let beats Standard rental by £625 a month

Short-stay let also ties up the least cash, £144,439.

Short-stay let+£180 · £144,439 in

14 nearby short-lets within 5.5 km · low confidence

Standard rental−£445 · £144,439 in

Housing-benefit rent−£986 · £144,439 in

Each row: money kept a month, then the cash it ties up. Not compared: Rent by the room (only 2 bedrooms) · Do it up, then remortgage (pays back at the remortgage) · Guaranteed council rent (no scheme in this borough) · 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

−£40,152 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 24% in the price would leave nothing from a sale after selling costs, and you would still owe the lender any shortfall. That is the £144,439 you put in. The 5-year fix runs past this 5-year hold, so the rate reset comes after it.

−£144,439+£432,796−£10,820−£288,750−£28,939−£40,152

Cash you put inSale valueSelling costsMortgageRent lossesYou are down

◧ 2.0%/yr growth assumed