Rented normally, you'd make about £76 a month.

Will it pay?Calculator

£76 of every £1,185 is yours to keep, each month

You keep 6p of every pound of rent. The mortgage takes 57p.

+£1,185−£670−£421−£18£76

Rent inMortgageRunning costsTaxProfit

Rent £1,185, modelled from 10 nearby lettings

◧ market rent £1,185 · 10 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£76/mo

All-in cash£66,624

Payback73.5 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

£55,475 + refurb costs

£14,225 of that never comes back — stamp duty, solicitor and lender fees.

£55,475 to buy it

deposit · stamp duty · solicitor · fees~£11,149, unseen

□ 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 £165,000 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 2% 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.

£1,121 needed

of £1,139 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £1,139PRA-style test

How big is it, really?The plan

The plan and the advert, side by side 745 sq ft

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

AdvertFloorplan

721 sq ft738 sq ft755 sq ft

721 sq ft755 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, CO13 0LE

1 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 to know before you offerThe checks

Every tenancy here is periodic, with no Section 21 to end it

Tenancies are now periodic, with no Section 21 — budget a longer void.

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

■ from the Renters’ Rights Act 2025listing last seen 16 Sep 2026

Which strategy wins?The ways to run it

Nothing here beats a plain let

Standard rental also ties up the least cash, £66,624.

Standard rental+£76 · £66,624 in

Housing-benefit rent−£278 · £66,624 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) · Guaranteed council rent (no scheme in this borough) · Buy, improve & sell (pays out on sale)

◧ 2 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

−£45 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 £66,624 you put in. The 5-year fix runs past this 5-year hold, so the rate reset comes after it.

−£66,624+£190,174−£4,754−£123,750+£4,909−£45

Cash you put inSale valueSelling costsMortgageRent keptYou are down

◧ 2.0%/yr growth assumed