Rented normally, you'd make about £4 a month.

Will it pay?Calculator

£4 of every £678 is yours to keep, each month

You keep under 1p of every pound of rent. The mortgage takes 54p.

+£678−£366−£307−£1£4

Rent inMortgageRunning costsTaxProfit

Rent £678, modelled from 73 nearby lettings

◧ market rent £678 · 73 comps2 empty weeks a year assumed

What if I change my assumptions?The dials

At the asking price, 25% deposit, 6.50% charged

Try your own numbersLive

You keep£4/mo

All-in cash£46,360

Payback863.7 yrs

Offer−+

Deposit−+

Mortgage rate−+

Rent−+

Worked at 6.50% — 5.75% quoted plus a company premium.

◧ worked out from local rents

What will it cost me to buy?Breakdown

£31,050 + refurb costs

£8,550 of that never comes back — stamp duty, solicitor and lender fees.

£31,050 to buy it

~£15,310

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

□ 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 £90,000 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 6% 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.

£612 needed

of £652 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £652PRA-style test

Who has to say yes?Council record

Middlesbrough council approves 64% — 39% on a cautious reading

A council-wide rate across 14 HMO decisions, not a forecast for this address.

64%

0%50%100%

never approvesalways approves

the band is the cautious reading of the same 14 decisions — as low as 39%

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

How big is it, really?The working

One figure, and nothing checking it 1,066 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

Middlesbrough, TS1 4HT

2 of 2 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

The council here has taken away the automatic right to rent this out by the room

You would have to apply for permission first, and the council can say no.

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

■ from the Article 4 maplisting last seen 23 Sep 2026

Which strategy wins?The ways to run it

Rent by the room beats Standard rental by £281 a month

Let it to the council: £360 a year less, but they keep paying when it is empty.

Rent by the room+£285 · £72,360 in

Standard rental+£4 · £46,360 in

Guaranteed council rent−£26 · £46,360 in

Housing-benefit rent−£136 · £46,360 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, after 5 years?The five-year sums

−£5,974 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 31% in the price would leave nothing from a sale after selling costs, and you would still owe the lender any shortfall. That is the £46,360 you put in. The 5-year fix runs past this 5-year hold, so the rate reset comes after it.

−£46,360+£110,355−£2,759−£67,500+£291−£5,974

Cash you put inSale valueSelling costsMortgageRent keptYou are down

◧ 2.0%/yr growth assumed