Rented normally, it costs you £5 a month. That is £55 a year, every year you hold it.

Will it pay?Calculator

You top up £5 a month — the mortgage takes 72p of every pound of rent

Borrowing £843 less would close that shortfall — which is £843 more cash at the start, on top of the deposit.

+£2,126−£1,523−£607−£5

Rent inMortgageRunning costsShort by

The rent covers £2,126 of that — you cover £5

◧ market rent £2,126 · 9 comps2 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-£5/mo

All-in cash£145,136

PaybackNever

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

£130,025 + refurb costs

And about £274 more over five years, because it loses £5 every month you hold it — before any repair. That already assumes the rent never falls.

£130,025 to buy it

deposit · stamp duty · solicitor · fees~£15,111, unseen

□ works not inspected

What would have to be true?

Break-even is within £5,000 of the asked price

It lands that close to the £375,000 asked — inside the step this card rounds to, and inside the confidence band on the rent it works back from. So the price asked is already about the price this rent carries, and there is no honest discount to print.

◧ worked back from the rent

What will the rent borrow?Lender test

The rent carries £225,570 of the £281,250 loan

That £55,680 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 £19,588. Lenders test the rent at 7.5% and need it to cover 145% of the payment.

£2,549 needed

more than the £2,044 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £2,044PRA-style test

Who has to say yes?Council record

Harlow council approves 50% — 22% on a cautious reading

A council-wide rate across 8 HMO decisions, not a forecast for this address.

50%

0%50%100%

never approvesalways approves

the band is the cautious reading of the same 8 decisions — as low as 22%

■ Article 4 — planning permission requireddecision record held for this authority

How big is it, really?The plan

Room to grow

The plan is on file; the floor area is not.

□ no floor area published

Is it a good location?Open the map

Essex Cm19, CM19

No schools in this postcode area and flood risk checking… — open for the map, the schools and the rest.

Article 4Planning permission required to let by the room

■ postcode area, not this address

What could kill thisThe checks

The council here has taken away the automatic right to rent this out by the room

You would have to apply for permission first, and the council can say no.

2 problems found · 2 came back clear · 4 we could not check · 1 does not apply to this property

■ from the Article 4 maplisting last seen 13 Sep 2026

Which strategy wins?The ways to run it

Every way loses money — Standard rental loses least, at £5 a month

Standard rental also ties up the least cash, £145,136.

Standard rental−£5 · £145,136 in

Short-stay let−£241 · £145,136 in

23 nearby short-lets within 20 km · low confidence

Rent by the room−£361 · £185,525 in

Housing-benefit rent−£1,227 · £145,136 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) · Guaranteed council rent (no scheme in this borough) · 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

−£12,430 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 £145,136 you put in. The 5-year fix runs past this 5-year hold, so the rate reset comes after it.

−£145,136+£424,875−£10,622−£281,250−£297−£12,430

Cash you put inSale valueSelling costsMortgageRent lossesYou are down

◧ 2.0%/yr growth assumed

Could you let it by the room?Room by room

−£361 to +£647 a month at 5 rooms two models disagree, before tax, once converted

The floorplan supports 5 lettable rooms and £29,500 of work gets you there — but the two ways this page prices them do not agree on whether they pay.

Room-add modelSite's engine

-£764£143£1.1k

-£764£1,050

the £1,008 gap between them is tax

◧ room-add model · medium confidence■ 49 room adverts in CM19Dwelfy’s room-add model, before tax