Rented normally, it costs you £374 a month. That is £4,492 a year, every year you hold it.

Will it pay?Calculator

You top up £374 a month — the mortgage takes 81p of every pound of rent

Borrowing £69,109 less would close that shortfall — which is £69,109 more cash at the start, on top of the deposit.

£975 mortgage

£550 running

£1,197 rent in£374 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

£80,900 + refurb costs

And about £22,460 more over five years, because it loses £374 every month you hold it — before any repair. That already assumes the rent never falls.

£80,900 to buy it

deposit · stamp duty · solicitor · fees~£11,174, unseen

□ works not inspected

What would have to be true?The working

£90,000 off and it stops losing money

At the asking price you feed it £374 a month. At £147,844 the rent covers everything — leaving stamp duty of £7,849 at that price.

offer £147,844

asked £240,000

◧ worked back from the rent■ stamp duty 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 £127,003 of the £180,000 loan

That £52,997 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 £32,677. Lenders test the rent at 7.5% and need it to cover 145% of the payment.

£1,631 needed

more than the £1,151 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £1,151PRA-style test

How big is it, really?The plan

One figure, and nothing checking it 733 sq ft

Only the agent’s figure exists for this house. Open for what that means.

□ area unchecked — agent’s own

Is it a good location?Open the map

No school rated Good or better in this postcode area

2 schools in this postcode area, none rated Good or better 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 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 · 3 came back clear · 2 we could not check · 2 do not apply to this property

■ from the listinglisting last seen 14 Sep 2026

Which strategy wins?The ways to run it

Every way loses money — Standard rental loses least, at £374 a month

Standard rental also ties up the least cash, £92,074.

Standard rental−£374 · £92,074 in

Housing-benefit rent−£695 · £92,074 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?The five-year sums

−£30,231 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 £92,074 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