Rented normally, it costs you £22 a month. That is £260 a year, every year you hold it.

Will it pay?Calculator

You top up £22 a month — the mortgage takes 38p of every pound of rent

Borrowing £3,993 less would close that shortfall — which is £3,993 more cash at the start, on top of the deposit.

+£806−£305−£523−£22

Rent inMortgageRunning costsShort by

The rent covers £806 of that — you cover £22

□ 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

£26,625 + refurb costs

And about £1,298 more over five years, because it loses £22 every month you hold it — before any repair. That already assumes the rent never falls.

~£45,000

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

£26,625 to buy it

□ works not inspected

What would have to be true?The working

£5,000 off and it stops losing money

At the asking price you feed it £22 a month. At £69,675 the rent covers everything — leaving stamp duty of £3,484 at that price.

offer £69,675

asked £75,000

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

Is the price right?Comparables

We can't tell — nothing nearby is alike enough

The dearest sold for 4.3× the cheapest, so the rent has to justify this price on its own.

you'd pay £75,000

£88,000

£100,000

£105,500

£110,000

£132,000

£133,000

£172,000

£180,000

£182,500

£205,000

£215,000

£380,000

£88k£234k£380k

£88,000 cheapest£380,000 dearest

12 completed sales, same property type, last 3 years

□ 12 sold nearby, not matched on sizeHM Land Registry Price Paid Data

Can we trust the rent?Rent evidence

Nearby lettings back this rent

We hold too few nearby asking rents to cross-check this figure, so nothing here confirms it a second way.

+141 more

our bar: 10 within 500 m

our own middle half£773–£840/mo

■ 151 lettings within 500 m□ no nearby asks to cross-checkAdvertised rents, not signed tenancies

What will the rent borrow?Lender test

The rent carries the whole loan — it could fall 34% 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.

£510 needed

of £775 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £775PRA-style test

Is it a good location?Open the map

Northampton, NN1 2HH

1 of 4 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 not own it outright — 80 years left, and buying more years has already got dearer

Nobody has priced those extra years here — you buy them from whoever owns the building.

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

■ from the listinglisting last seen 18 Sep 2026

Which strategy wins?The ways to run it

Every way loses money — Standard rental loses least, at £22 a month

Let it to the council: £456 a year less, but they keep paying when it is empty.

Standard rental−£22 · £71,625 in

Guaranteed council rent−£60 · £71,625 in

Housing-benefit rent−£196 · £71,625 in

Each row: money kept a month, then the cash it ties up. Not compared: Rent by the room (only 1 bedroom) · 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

−£17,058 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 45% in the price would leave nothing from a sale after selling costs, and you would still owe the lender any shortfall. That is the £71,625 you put in. The 5-year fix runs past this 5-year hold, so the rate reset comes after it.

−£71,625+£115,100−£2,878−£56,250−£1,406−£17,058

Cash you put inSale valueSelling costsMortgageRent lossesYou are down

◧ 2.0%/yr growth assumed