Rented normally, you'd make about £162 a month.

Will it pay?Calculator

£162 of every £1,449 is yours to keep, each month

You keep 11p of every pound of rent. The mortgage takes 41p.

+£1,449−£589−£660−£38£162

Rent inMortgageRunning costsTaxProfit

Rent £1,449, modelled from 63 nearby lettings

□ 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

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

£49,075 + refurb costs

£12,825 of that never comes back — stamp duty, solicitor and lender fees.

£49,075 to buy it

deposit · stamp duty · solicitor · fees~£10,615, 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 £145,000 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 the whole loan — it could fall 29% and still cover it

Your deposit is what limits this one, not the rent. Lenders test the rent at 7.5% and need it to cover 145% of the payment.

£986 needed

of £1,393 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £1,393PRA-style test

How big is it, really?The plan

The plan and the advert, side by side 569 sq ft

Two figures for this house, and neither is a survey. Open for both.

AdvertFloorplan

539 sq ft629 sq ft718 sq ft

539 sq ft718 sq ft

neither is a survey — a tape measure settles it

□ area off the floorplan — not a survey

Is it a good location?Open the map

Essex Rm20 4bf, RM20 4BF

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

You would need a licence from the council first

Letting without the council’s licence is an offence, and the fee is in no figure here.

2 problems found · 2 came back clear · 3 we could not check · 2 do not apply to this property

■ from council licensing registerlisting last seen 11 Sep 2026

Which strategy wins?The ways to run it

Nothing here beats a plain let

Let it to the council: £3,852 a year less, but they keep paying when it is empty.

Standard rental+£162 · £59,690 in

Guaranteed council rent−£159 · £59,690 in

Housing-benefit rent−£265 · £59,690 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) · Short-stay let (no local short-let data) · 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

+£5,594 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 27% in the price would leave nothing from a sale after selling costs, and you would still owe the lender any shortfall. That is the £59,690 you put in. The 5-year fix runs past this 5-year hold, so the rate reset comes after it.

−£59,690+£167,710−£4,193−£108,750+£10,517+£5,594

Cash you put inSale valueSelling costsMortgageRent keptYou walk with

◧ 2.0%/yr growth assumed