Rented normally, you'd make about £3,333 a month.

Will it pay?Calculator

£3,333 of every £9,499 is yours to keep, each month

You keep 35p of every pound of rent. The mortgage takes 34p.

£3,333 yours

£9,499 rent in£3,333 yours

◧ market rent £9,499 · 5 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

£285,900 + refurb costs

£85,900 of that never comes back — stamp duty, solicitor and lender fees.

£285,900 to buy it

deposit · stamp duty · solicitor · fees~£1,875, 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 £800,000 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 40% 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.

£5,437 needed

of £9,134 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £9,134PRA-style test

Who has to say yes?Council record

Brighton and Hove council approves 67% — 62% on a cautious reading

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

67%

0%50%100%

never approvesalways approves

the band is the cautious reading of the same 342 decisions — as low as 62%

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

How big is it, really?The plan

Room to grow 3,046 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

Brighton, BN2 8AH

1 of 1 school 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 need a licence from the council first

Letting without the council’s licence is an offence, and the fee is in no figure here.

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

■ from council licensing registerlisting last seen 16 Sep 2026

Which strategy wins?The ways to run it

Nothing here beats a plain let

Let it to the council: £58,044 a year less, but they keep paying when it is empty.

Standard rental+£3,333 · £287,775 in

Guaranteed council rent−£1,504 · £287,775 in

Housing-benefit rent−£2,036 · £287,775 in

Rent by the room−£2,445 · £345,775 in

Short-stay let−£3,448 · £287,775 in

3 nearby short-lets within 11.1 km · low confidence

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

+£191,347 after five years on the cash you put in, before tax on the sale

More 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 23% in the price would leave nothing from a sale after selling costs, and you would still owe the lender any shortfall. That is the £287,775 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