Rented normally, it costs you £187 a month. That is £2,247 a year, every year you hold it.

Will it pay?Calculator

You top up £187 a month — the mortgage takes 80p of every pound of rent

Borrowing £34,565 less would close that shortfall — which is £34,565 more cash at the start, on top of the deposit.

£894 mortgage

£1,123 rent in£187 short

◧ market rent £1,123 · 2 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

£80,100 + refurb costs

And about £11,234 more over five years, because it loses £187 every month you hold it — before any repair. That already assumes the rent never falls.

£80,100 to buy it

deposit · stamp duty · solicitor · fees~£16,790, unseen

□ works not inspected

What would have to be true?The working

£45,000 off and it stops losing money

At the asking price you feed it £187 a month. At £173,895 the rent covers everything — leaving LBTT of £14,489 at that price.

offer £173,895

asked £220,000

◧ 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 £119,151 of the £165,000 loan

That £45,849 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 £26,785. Lenders test the rent at 7.5% and need it to cover 145% of the payment.

£1,495 needed

more than the £1,080 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £1,080PRA-style test

Is it a good location?Open the map

Inverness, IV5 7QB

No schools in this postcode area 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

The property is being sold at auction, so the price shown is a guide, not what it will cost

Every figure on this page is worked from that price, so paying more than it cuts the return.

2 problems found · 5 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 £187 a month

Standard rental also ties up the least cash, £96,890.

Standard rental−£187 · £96,890 in

Rent by the room−£285 · £96,890 in

Housing-benefit rent−£470 · £96,890 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) · Guaranteed council rent (no scheme in this borough) · Buy, improve & sell (pays out on sale)

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

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

−£25,485 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 27% in the price would leave nothing from a sale after selling costs, and you would still owe the lender any shortfall. That is the £96,890 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