Rented normally, it costs you £44 a month. That is £533 a year, every year you hold it.

Will it pay?Calculator

You top up £44 a month — the mortgage takes 56p of every pound of rent

Borrowing £8,521 less would close that shortfall — which is £8,521 more cash at the start, on top of the deposit.

+£1,295−£723−£617−£44

Rent inMortgageRunning costsShort by

The rent covers £1,295 of that — you cover £44

□ service charge not published2 empty weeks a year assumed

What if I change my assumptions?The dials

At the asking price, 25% deposit, 6.25% charged

Try your own numbersLive

You keep-£44/mo

All-in cash£75,468

PaybackNever

Offer−+

Deposit−+

Mortgage rate−+

Rent−+

Worked at 6.25% — 5.50% quoted plus a company premium.

◧ worked out from local rents

What will it cost me to buy?Breakdown

£67,625 + refurb costs

And about £2,663 more over five years, because it loses £44 every month you hold it — before any repair. That already assumes the rent never falls.

£67,625 to buy it

deposit · stamp duty · solicitor · fees~£7,843, unseen

□ works not inspected

What would have to be true?The working

£10,000 off and it stops losing money

At the asking price you feed it £44 a month. At £173,636 the rent covers everything — leaving LBTT of £14,464 at that price.

offer £173,636

asked £185,000

◧ worked back from the rent■ LBTT 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 £137,401 of the £138,750 loan

That £1,349 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.

£1,257 needed

more than the £1,245 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £1,245PRA-style test

How big is it, really?The plan

Measured off the plan, not by a surveyor 344 sq ft

The area comes off the plan, not a survey. Open for what that means.

□ area off the floorplan — not a survey

Is it a good location?Open the map

Nearest stop up to 1.5 km away

More than nine in ten listings we cover have one closer — and that is a straight line, not the walk.

Article 4Not assessed for this address

■ postcode area, not this address■ nearest stop in our data□ kind of stop not recordedstraight-line distance, not the walk

What to know before you offerThe checks

Every tenancy here is periodic, with no Section 21 to end it

Tenancies are now periodic, with no Section 21 — budget a longer void.

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

■ from the Renters’ Rights Act 2025listing last seen 23 Sep 2026

Which strategy wins?The ways to run it

Every way loses money — Standard rental loses least, at £44 a month

Standard rental also ties up the least cash, £75,468.

Standard rental−£44 · £75,468 in

Housing-benefit rent−£371 · £75,468 in

Each row: money kept a month, then the cash it ties up. Not compared: Rent by the room (only 1 bedroom) · 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, after 5 years?The five-year sums

−£12,466 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 £75,468 you put in. The 5-year fix runs past this 5-year hold, so the rate reset comes after it.

−£75,468+£209,883−£5,247−£138,750−£2,885−£12,466

Cash you put inSale valueSelling costsMortgageRent lossesYou are down

◧ 2.0%/yr growth assumed