Rented normally, it costs you £1,387 a month. That is £16,645 a year, every year you hold it.

Will it pay?Calculator

The mortgage alone costs more than the whole rent — you top up £1,387 a month

It is £1,387 a month short. Borrowing £256,078 less would close that shortfall — which is £256,078 more cash at the start, on top of the deposit.

£5,484 mortgage

£5,315 rent in£1,387 short

◧ market rent £5,315 · 6 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

£508,700 + refurb costs

And about £83,225 more over five years, because it loses £1,387 every month you hold it — before any repair. That already assumes the rent never falls.

£508,700 to buy it

deposit · stamp duty · solicitor · fees~£23,805, unseen

□ works not inspected

What would have to be true?The working

£340,000 off and it stops losing money

At the asking price you feed it £1,387 a month. At £1,008,545 the rent covers everything — leaving stamp duty of £95,032 at that price.

offer £1,008,545

asked £1,350,000

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

What will the rent borrow?Lender test

The rent carries £563,926 of the £1,012,500 loan

That £448,574 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 £358,346. Lenders test the rent at 7.5% and need it to cover 145% of the payment.

£9,176 needed

more than the £5,111 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £5,111PRA-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

Bromley, BR2

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 could kill thisThe checks

The area is mapped as high flood risk

Flood maps cover areas, not buildings — treat it as a reason to search, not a verdict.

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

■ from the flood maplisting last seen 15 Sep 2026

Which strategy wins?The ways to run it

Every way loses money — Standard rental loses least, at £1,387 a month

Standard rental also ties up the least cash, £532,505.

Standard rental−£1,387 · £532,505 in

Rent by the room−£3,273 · £574,505 in

Housing-benefit rent−£4,879 · £532,505 in

Short-stay let−£5,232 · £532,505 in

3 nearby short-lets within 11.1 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?The five-year sums

−£165,257 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 £532,505 you put in. The 5-year fix runs past this 5-year hold, so the rate reset comes after it.

◧ 2.0%/yr growth assumed