Rented normally, it costs you £2 a month. That is £29 a year, every year you hold it.

Will it pay?Calculator

You top up £2 a month — the mortgage takes 64p of every pound of rent

Borrowing £442 less would close that shortfall — which is £442 more cash at the start, on top of the deposit.

+£1,081−£691−£393−£2

Rent inMortgageRunning costsShort by

The rent covers £1,081 of that — you cover £2

◧ market rent £1,081 · 37 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 £144 more over five years, because it loses £2 every month you hold it — before any repair. That already assumes the rent never falls.

£57,150 to buy it

~£16,919

deposit · stamp duty · solicitor · feeswe haven’t been inside

□ 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 £170,000 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

What will the rent borrow?Lender test

The rent carries £114,695 of the £127,500 loan

That £12,805 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.

£1,155 needed

more than the £1,039 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £1,039PRA-style test

Who has to say yes?Council record

Birmingham council approves 50% — 45% on a cautious reading

A council-wide rate, not a forecast — and Birmingham council refuses schemes that sandwich a family home. Check both neighbours.

50%

0%50%100%

never approvesalways approves

the band is the cautious reading of the same 393 decisions — as low as 45%

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

How big is it, really?The working

One figure, and nothing checking it 1,001 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

Birmingham, B21 0DS

1 of 5 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 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.

3 problems found · 2 came back clear · 3 we could not check · 1 does not apply to this property

■ from council licensing registerlisting last seen 07 Sep 2026

Which strategy wins?The ways to run it

Rent by the room beats Short-stay let by £82 a month

Your controls are set to Standard rental — £243 a month behind Rent by the room.

Rent by the room+£241 · £100,069 in

Short-stay let+£159 · £74,069 in

33 nearby short-lets within 5.5 km · medium confidence

Standard rental−£2 · £74,069 in

Guaranteed council rent−£13 · £74,069 in

Housing-benefit rent−£263 · £74,069 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) · Buy, improve & sell (pays out on sale)

◧ 5 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

−£6,885 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 28% in the price would leave nothing from a sale after selling costs, and you would still owe the lender any shortfall. That is the £74,069 you put in. The 5-year fix runs past this 5-year hold, so the rate reset comes after it.

−£74,069+£199,836−£4,996−£127,500−£156−£6,885

Cash you put inSale valueSelling costsMortgageRent lossesYou are down

◧ 2.0%/yr growth assumed