Rented normally, it costs you £290 a month. That is £3,479 a year, every year you hold it.

Will it pay?Calculator

You top up £290 a month — the mortgage takes 74p of every pound of rent

Borrowing £53,516 less would close that shortfall — which is £53,516 more cash at the start, on top of the deposit.

£691 mortgage

£496 running

£933 rent in£290 short

£25 of that is a guess — no service charge published.

□ 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

£57,450 + refurb costs

And about £17,393 more over five years, because it loses £290 every month you hold it — before any repair. That already assumes the rent never falls.

£57,450 to buy it

deposit · stamp duty · solicitor · fees~£8,218, unseen

□ works not inspected

What would have to be true?The search

No offer makes this pay

Even at £102,000 — well below the £170,000 asked — the rent still does not cover the costs. The gap is the rent against the running costs, not the price, so negotiating does not close it.

◧ worked back from the rent■ stamp duty re-bandedtested down to £102,000

Can we trust the rent?Rent evidence

Nearby lettings back this rent

A real local sample, but short of our bar of ten inside 500 metres — treat the rent as workable rather than settled.

+89 more

our bar: 10 within 500 m

what 20 nearby lettings ask£675–£1,050/mo

our own middle half£894–£974/mo

■ 99 lettings within 1 kmAdvertised rents, not signed tenancies

What will the rent borrow?Lender test

The rent carries £98,992 of the £127,500 loan

That £28,508 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 £12,669. Lenders test the rent at 7.5% and need it to cover 145% of the payment.

£1,155 needed

more than the £897 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £897PRA-style test

How big is it, really?The plan

The plan and the advert, side by side 526 sq ft

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

□ area off the floorplan — not a survey

Is it a good location?Open the map

Southend-on-Sea, SS1 2TQ

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

■ from council licensing registerlisting last seen 16 Sep 2026

Which strategy wins?The ways to run it

Every way loses money — Standard rental loses least, at £290 a month

Let it to the council: £1,272 a year less, but they keep paying when it is empty.

Standard rental−£290 · £65,668 in

Guaranteed council rent−£396 · £65,668 in

Housing-benefit rent−£540 · £65,668 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?The five-year sums

−£23,257 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 £65,668 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