Rented normally, it costs you £327 a month. That is £3,921 a year, every year you hold it.

Will it pay?Calculator

You top up £327 a month — the mortgage takes 69p of every pound of rent

Borrowing £60,328 less would close that shortfall — which is £60,328 more cash at the start, on top of the deposit.

£1,341 mortgage

£846 running

£1,934 rent in£327 short

◧ market rent £1,934 · 99 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

£113,975 + refurb costs

And about £19,607 more over five years, because it loses £327 every month you hold it — before any repair. That already assumes the rent never falls.

£113,975 to buy it

deposit · stamp duty · solicitor · fees~£17,710, unseen

□ works not inspected

What would have to be true?The working

£80,000 off and it stops losing money

At the asking price you feed it £327 a month. At £249,563 the rent covers everything — leaving stamp duty of £14,969 at that price.

offer £249,563

asked £330,000

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

Can we trust the rent?Rent evidence

Nearby lettings, but only by searching 1.5 km

We widened the search to find them, so these are not next-door comparisons.

+89 more

our bar: 10 within 500 m

our own middle half£1,787–£2,093/mo

■ 99 lettings within 1.5 km□ searched wider than our barAdvertised rents, not signed tenancies

What will the rent borrow?Lender test

The rent carries £205,199 of the £247,500 loan

That £42,301 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 £9,469. Lenders test the rent at 7.5% and need it to cover 145% of the payment.

£2,243 needed

more than the £1,860 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £1,860PRA-style test

How big is it, really?The plan

One figure, and nothing checking it 750 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

Edgware, HA8 8YT

2 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

£4,200 a year in charges for the building, owed even when nobody is living there

The contract the property is sold under sets these charges, and they can go up over the years.

2 problems found · 1 came back clear · 4 we could not check · 2 do not apply to this property

■ from the listinglisting last seen 15 Sep 2026

Which strategy wins?The ways to run it

Every way loses money — Standard rental loses least, at £327 a month

Let it to the council: £3,408 a year less, but they keep paying when it is empty.

Standard rental−£327 · £131,685 in

Guaranteed council rent−£611 · £131,685 in

Housing-benefit rent−£889 · £131,685 in

Short-stay let−£1,228 · £131,685 in

81 nearby short-lets within 11.1 km · low confidence

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) · Buy, improve & sell (pays out on sale)

◧ 4 ways, one measureranked on money kept each month, at the asking price

What would you walk away with?The five-year sums

−£32,794 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 £131,685 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