Rented normally, it costs you £134 a month. That is £1,607 a year, every year you hold it.

Will it pay?Calculator

You top up £134 a month — the mortgage takes 77p of every pound of rent

Borrowing £24,716 less would close that shortfall — which is £24,716 more cash at the start, on top of the deposit.

£1,828 mortgage

£2,363 rent in£134 short

◧ market rent £2,363 · 73 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

£157,400 + refurb costs

And about £8,033 more over five years, because it loses £134 every month you hold it — before any repair. That already assumes the rent never falls.

£157,400 to buy it

deposit · stamp duty · solicitor · fees~£23,506, unseen

□ works not inspected

What would have to be true?The working

£30,000 off and it stops losing money

At the asking price you feed it £134 a month. At £417,041 the rent covers everything — leaving stamp duty of £31,704 at that price.

offer £417,041

asked £450,000

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

Is the price right?Comparables

We can't tell — nothing nearby is alike enough

The dearest sold for 2.2× the cheapest, so the rent has to justify this price on its own.

you'd pay £450,000

£300,000

£380,000

£410,000

£450,000

£467,500

£470,000

£480,000

£485,000

£500,000

£540,000

£560,000

£667,500

£300k£483.8k£667.5k

£300,000 cheapest£667,500 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 £250,716 of the £337,500 loan

That £86,784 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 £46,669. Lenders test the rent at 7.5% and need it to cover 145% of the payment.

£3,059 needed

more than the £2,272 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £2,272PRA-style test

Is it a good location?Open the map

London, E6 2BD

1 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 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.

2 problems found · 1 came back clear · 5 we could not check · 1 does not apply to this property

■ from council licensing registerlisting last seen 18 Sep 2026

Which strategy wins?The ways to run it

Every way loses money — Standard rental loses least, at £134 a month

Let it to the council: £4,980 a year less, but they keep paying when it is empty.

Standard rental−£134 · £180,906 in

Guaranteed council rent−£549 · £180,906 in

Housing-benefit rent−£792 · £180,906 in

Rent by the room−£955 · £180,906 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

−£26,245 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 £180,906 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