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 61p of every pound of rent

Borrowing £853 less would close that shortfall — which is £853 more cash at the start, on top of the deposit.

+£1,838−£1,117−£725−£5

Rent inMortgageRunning costsShort by

The rent covers £1,838 of that — you cover £5

□ 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-£5/mo

All-in cash£104,664

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

£93,900 + refurb costs

And about £277 more over five years, because it loses £5 every month you hold it — before any repair. That already assumes the rent never falls.

£93,900 to buy it

deposit · stamp duty · solicitor · fees~£10,764, 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 £275,000 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

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.

+104 more

our bar: 10 within 500 m

our own middle half£1,762–£1,917/mo

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

What will the rent borrow?Lender test

The rent carries £195,013 of the £206,250 loan

That £11,237 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.

£1,869 needed

more than the £1,767 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £1,767PRA-style test

Is it a good location?Open the map

Essex Ig11, IG11

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 4Planning permission required to let by the room

■ 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 · 5 we could not check · 2 do not apply to this property

■ from the Renters’ Rights Act 2025listing last seen 10 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, £104,664.

Standard rental−£5 · £104,664 in

Housing-benefit rent−£187 · £104,664 in

Short-stay let−£298 · £104,664 in

20 nearby short-lets within 5.5 km · low confidence

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

−£7,651 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 £104,664 you put in. The 5-year fix runs past this 5-year hold, so the rate reset comes after it.

−£104,664+£311,347−£7,784−£206,250−£300−£7,651

Cash you put inSale valueSelling costsMortgageRent lossesYou are down

◧ 2.0%/yr growth assumed