Rented normally, you'd make about £84 a month.

Will it pay?Calculator

£84 of every £4,133 is yours to keep, each month

You keep 2p of every pound of rent. The mortgage takes 74p.

+£4,133−£3,047−£982−£20£84

Rent inMortgageRunning costsTaxProfit

Rent £4,133, modelled from 12 nearby lettings

◧ market rent £4,133 · 12 comps2 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

£267,650 + refurb costs

£80,150 of that never comes back — stamp duty, solicitor and lender fees.

£267,650 to buy it

deposit · stamp duty · solicitor · fees~£19,731, unseen

□ 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 £750,000 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

What will the rent borrow?Lender test

The rent carries £438,515 of the £562,500 loan

That £123,985 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 £53,823. Lenders test the rent at 7.5% and need it to cover 145% of the payment.

£5,098 needed

more than the £3,974 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £3,974PRA-style test

Who has to say yes?Council record

Brent council approves 33% — 27% on a cautious reading

A council-wide rate across 187 HMO decisions, not a forecast for this address.

33%

0%50%100%

never approvesalways approves

the band is the cautious reading of the same 187 decisions — as low as 27%

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

How big is it, really?The plan

One figure, and nothing checking it 1,422 sq ft

Only the agent’s figure exists for this house. Open for what that means.

□ area unchecked — agent’s own

Is it a good location?Open the map

London, NW2

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 · 1 came back clear · 5 we could not check · 1 does not apply to this property

■ from the Article 4 maplisting last seen 22 Aug 2026

Which strategy wins?The ways to run it

Nothing here beats a plain let

Standard rental also ties up the least cash, £287,381.

Standard rental+£84 · £287,381 in

Housing-benefit rent−£960 · £287,381 in

Rent by the room−£1,074 · £325,381 in

Short-stay let−£2,595 · £287,381 in

186 nearby short-lets within 5.5 km · low confidence

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

−£23,232 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 £287,381 you put in. The 5-year fix runs past this 5-year hold, so the rate reset comes after it.

−£287,381+£842,221−£21,056−£562,500+£5,484−£23,232

Cash you put inSale valueSelling costsMortgageRent keptYou are down

◧ 2.0%/yr growth assumed