Rented normally, it costs you £114 a month. That is £1,370 a year, every year you hold it.

Will it pay?Calculator

You top up £114 a month — the mortgage takes 76p of every pound of rent

Borrowing £21,079 less would close that shortfall — which is £21,079 more cash at the start, on top of the deposit.

£1,097 mortgage

£1,444 rent in£114 short

◧ market rent £1,444 · 20 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

£91,650 + refurb costs

And about £6,851 more over five years, because it loses £114 every month you hold it — before any repair. That already assumes the rent never falls.

£91,650 to buy it

deposit · stamp duty · solicitor · fees~£13,878, unseen

□ works not inspected

What would have to be true?The working

£25,000 off and it stops losing money

At the asking price you feed it £114 a month. At £241,893 the rent covers everything — leaving land transaction tax of £14,261 at that price.

offer £241,893

asked £270,000

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

What will the rent borrow?Lender test

The rent carries £153,210 of the £202,500 loan

That £49,290 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 £24,777. Lenders test the rent at 7.5% and need it to cover 145% of the payment.

£1,835 needed

more than the £1,388 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £1,388PRA-style test

Who has to say yes?Council record

Cardiff council decides

We hold this council's record, but no rate goes beside a blocker. Get Cardiff council's pre-application advice before you commit.

■ Article 4 — planning permission required■ authority named in the planning data■ over-concentration flaggedfrom the Article 4 map we hold

How big is it, really?The plan

The plan and the advert, side by side 879 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

Cardiff, CF24 4SX

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 14 Sep 2026

Which strategy wins?The ways to run it

Every way loses money — Rent by the room loses least, at £90 a month

Let it to the council: £2,628 a year less, but they keep paying when it is empty.

Rent by the room−£90 · £131,528 in

Standard rental−£114 · £105,528 in

Guaranteed council rent−£333 · £105,528 in

Housing-benefit rent−£599 · £105,528 in

Short-stay let−£638 · £105,528 in

56 nearby short-lets within 5.5 km · low confidence

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?The five-year sums

−£15,089 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 26% in the price would leave nothing from a sale after selling costs, and you would still owe the lender any shortfall. That is the £105,528 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