Rented normally, you'd make about £315 a month.

Will it pay?Calculator

£315 of every £1,937 is yours to keep, each month

You keep 16p of every pound of rent. The mortgage takes 50p.

£975 mortgage

£1,937 rent in£315 yours

◧ market rent £1,937 · 64 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

£80,600 + refurb costs

£20,600 of that never comes back — stamp duty, solicitor and lender fees.

£80,600 to buy it

~£23,506

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

□ 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 £240,000 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

Is the price right?Comparables

We can't tell — nothing nearby is alike enough

The dearest sold for 2.8× the cheapest, so the rent has to justify this price on its own.

you'd pay £240,000

£180,000

£310,000

£320,000

£330,000

£330,000

£335,000

£385,000

£410,000

£412,000

£425,000

£475,000

£500,000

£180k£340k£500k

£180,000 cheapest£500,000 dearest

12 completed sales, same property type, last 3 years

□ 12 sold nearby, not matched on sizeHM Land Registry Price Paid Data

What will the rent borrow?Lender test

The rent carries the whole loan — it could fall 12% 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.

£1,631 needed

of £1,863 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £1,863PRA-style test

How big is it, really?The plan

Measured off the plan, not by a surveyor 958 sq ft

The advert and the survey disagree — open for both figures and the gap.

■ area measured on site

Is it a good location?Open the map

Romford, RM3 8ET

1 of 3 schools in this postcode area rated Good or Outstanding 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 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 · 1 came back clear · 4 we could not check · 1 does not apply to this property

■ from council licensing registerlisting last seen 15 Sep 2026

Which strategy wins?The ways to run it

Nothing here beats a plain let

Let it to the council: £2,208 a year less, but they keep paying when it is empty.

Standard rental+£315 · £104,106 in

Guaranteed council rent+£131 · £104,106 in

Housing-benefit rent−£61 · £104,106 in

Rent by the room−£356 · £104,106 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) · Short-stay let (no local short-let data) · 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

+£11,140 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 28% in the price would leave nothing from a sale after selling costs, and you would still owe the lender any shortfall. That is the £104,106 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