Rented normally, it costs you £190 a month. That is £2,277 a year, every year you hold it.

Will it pay?Calculator

You top up £190 a month — the mortgage takes 54p of every pound of rent

Borrowing £35,036 less would close that shortfall — which is £35,036 more cash at the start, on top of the deposit.

£365 mortgage

£474 running

£676 rent in£190 short

£175 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

£31,335 + refurb costs

And about £11,387 more over five years, because it loses £190 every month you hold it — before any repair. That already assumes the rent never falls.

£31,335 to buy it

~£12,230

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

□ works not inspected

What would have to be true?The search

No offer makes this pay

Even at £53,970 — well below the £89,950 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 £53,970

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.

£611 needed

of £650 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £650PRA-style test

How big is it, really?The plan

The plan and the advert, side by side 595 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

Blackpool, FY2 0SZ

1 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 4Planning permission required to let by the room

■ postcode area, not this address

What could kill thisThe checks

You would not own it outright — 80 years left, and buying more years has already got dearer

Nobody has priced those extra years here — you buy them from whoever owns the building.

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

■ from the listinglisting last seen 16 Sep 2026

Which strategy wins?The ways to run it

Every way loses money — Standard rental loses least, at £190 a month

Let it to the council: £444 a year less, but they keep paying when it is empty.

Standard rental−£190 · £43,565 in

Guaranteed council rent−£227 · £43,565 in

Housing-benefit rent−£339 · £43,565 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?The five-year sums

−£17,975 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 29% in the price would leave nothing from a sale after selling costs, and you would still owe the lender any shortfall. That is the £43,565 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