Rented normally, it costs you £13 a month. That is £159 a year, every year you hold it.

Will it pay?Calculator

You top up £13 a month — the mortgage takes 53p of every pound of rent

Borrowing £2,440 less would close that shortfall — which is £2,440 more cash at the start, on top of the deposit.

+£1,330−£711−£632−£13

Rent inMortgageRunning costsShort by

The rent covers £1,330 of that — you cover £13

□ 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

Try your own numbersLive

You keep-£13/mo

All-in cash£67,206

PaybackNever

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

£59,125 + refurb costs

And about £793 more over five years, because it loses £13 every month you hold it — before any repair. That already assumes the rent never falls.

£59,125 to buy it

deposit · stamp duty · solicitor · fees~£8,081, unseen

□ 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 £175,000 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 the whole loan — it could fall 7% 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.

£1,189 needed

of £1,279 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £1,279PRA-style test

How big is it, really?The plan

The plan and the advert, side by side 512 sq ft

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

AdvertFloorplan

474 sq ft498 sq ft522 sq ft

474 sq ft522 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, SS4 1UY

2 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 4Not assessed for this address

■ postcode area, not this address

What could kill thisThe checks

£1,920 a year in charges for the building, owed even when nobody is living there

The contract the property is sold under sets these charges, and they can go up over the years.

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

■ from the listinglisting last seen 15 Sep 2026

Which strategy wins?The ways to run it

Every way loses money — Standard rental loses least, at £13 a month

Let it to the council: £2,940 a year less, but they keep paying when it is empty.

Standard rental−£13 · £67,206 in

Guaranteed council rent−£258 · £67,206 in

Housing-benefit rent−£441 · £67,206 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

−£5,277 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 25% in the price would leave nothing from a sale after selling costs, and you would still owe the lender any shortfall. That is the £67,206 you put in. The 5-year fix runs past this 5-year hold, so the rate reset comes after it.

−£67,206+£199,013−£4,975−£131,250−£859−£5,277

Cash you put inSale valueSelling costsMortgageRent lossesYou are down

◧ 2.0%/yr growth assumed