Rented normally, it costs you £260 a month. That is £3,120 a year, every year you hold it.

Will it pay?Calculator

You top up £260 a month — the mortgage takes 84p of every pound of rent

Borrowing £47,996 less would close that shortfall — which is £47,996 more cash at the start, on top of the deposit.

£691 mortgage

£361 running

£823 rent in£260 short

◧ market rent £823 · 8 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

£57,150 + refurb costs

And about £15,599 more over five years, because it loses £260 every month you hold it — before any repair. That already assumes the rent never falls.

£57,150 to buy it

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

□ works not inspected

What would have to be true?The working

£60,000 off and it stops losing money

At the asking price you feed it £260 a month. At £106,001 the rent covers everything — leaving stamp duty of £5,300 at that price.

offer £106,001

asked £170,000

◧ 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 £87,321 of the £127,500 loan

That £40,179 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 £26,208. Lenders test the rent at 7.5% and need it to cover 145% of the payment.

£1,155 needed

more than the £791 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £791PRA-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

Durham, DH6 2GA

2 of 3 schools in this postcode area rated Good or Outstanding 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 · 4 we could not check · 1 does not apply to this property

■ from council licensing registerlisting last seen 17 Sep 2026

Which strategy wins?The ways to run it

Every way loses money — Rent by the room loses least, at £256 a month

Let it to the council: £1,644 a year less, but they keep paying when it is empty.

Rent by the room−£256 · £72,261 in

Standard rental−£260 · £72,261 in

Guaranteed council rent−£397 · £72,261 in

Housing-benefit rent−£520 · £72,261 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) · Short-stay let (no local short-let data) · 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

−£23,084 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 £72,261 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