Let by the room, it costs you £164 a month. That is £1,965 a year, every year you hold it.

Will it pay?Calculator

You top up £164 a month — the mortgage takes 63p of every pound of rent

Borrowing £29,325 less would close that shortfall — which is £29,325 more cash at the start, on top of the deposit.

£2,073 mortgage

£1,365 running

£3,274 rent in£164 short

□ market rent £3,274 · few comparables4 empty weeks a year assumed

What if I change my assumptions?The dials

At the asking price, 25% deposit, 6.70% charged

Change any of these 13 and every card on this page changes with it. The 6.70% is the 5.95% quoted plus a company premium.

◧ worked out from local rents

What will it cost me to buy?Breakdown

£173,825 + refurb and conversion costs

And about £9,824 more over five years, because it loses £164 every month you hold it — before any repair. That already assumes the rent never falls.

£173,825 to buy it

deposit · stamp duty · solicitor · fees~£24,805, unseen

□ works not inspected

What would have to be true?The working

£35,000 off and it stops losing money

At the asking price you feed it £164 a month. At £455,893 the rent covers everything — leaving stamp duty of £35,589 at that price.

offer £455,893

asked £495,000

◧ 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 £361,269 of the £371,250 loan

That £9,981 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 rent carries the whole loan. Lenders test the rent at 7.5% and need it to cover 145% of the payment.

£3,364 needed

more than the £3,274 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ market rent £3,274PRA-style test

Who has to say yes?Council record

Exeter council approves 71% — 61% on a cautious reading

A council-wide rate, not a forecast — and Exeter council refuses schemes that sandwich a family home. Check both neighbours.

71%

0%50%100%

never approvesalways approves

the band is the cautious reading of the same 95 decisions — as low as 61%

■ Article 4 — planning permission requireddecision record held for this authority

How big is it, really?The plan

The rooms are on the plan; the total is not

The plan is on file; the floor area is not.

□ no floor area published

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 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 17 Sep 2026

Which strategy wins?The ways to run it

Short-stay let beats Standard rental by £275 a month

Your controls are set to Rent by the room — £803 a month behind Short-stay let.

Short-stay let+£639 · £197,630 in

4 nearby short-lets within 11.1 km · low confidence

Standard rental+£364 · £197,630 in

Rent by the room−£164 · £198,630 in

Guaranteed council rent−£974 · £197,630 in

Housing-benefit rent−£1,245 · £197,630 in

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

−£31,008 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 £198,630 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