Rented normally, it costs you £307 a month. That is £3,682 a year, every year you hold it.

Will it pay?Calculator

You top up £307 a month — the mortgage takes 73p of every pound of rent

Borrowing £56,641 less would close that shortfall — which is £56,641 more cash at the start, on top of the deposit.

£690 mortgage

£521 running

£941 rent in£307 short

£175 of that is a guess — no service charge published.

□ service charge not published2 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

£57,434 + refurb costs

And about £18,408 more over five years, because it loses £307 every month you hold it — before any repair. That already assumes the rent never falls.

£57,434 to buy it

deposit · stamp duty · solicitor · fees~£7,487, unseen

□ works not inspected

What would have to be true?The search

No offer makes this pay

Even at £101,970 — well below the £169,950 asked — the rent still does not cover the costs. The gap is the rent against the running costs, not the price, so negotiating does not close it.

◧ worked back from the rent■ stamp duty re-bandedtested down to £101,970

Is the price right?Comparables

We can't tell — nothing nearby is alike enough

The dearest sold for 4.5× the cheapest, so the rent has to justify this price on its own.

you'd pay £169,950

£64,000

£75,000

£85,000

£92,000

£105,000

£118,000

£140,000

£145,000

£150,000

£180,000

£267,840

£289,829

£64k£176.9k£289.8k

£64,000 cheapest£289,829 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 £99,841 of the £127,463 loan

That £27,622 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 £11,647. Lenders test the rent at 7.5% and need it to cover 145% of the payment.

£1,155 needed

more than the £905 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £905PRA-style test

How big is it, really?The plan

The rooms are on the plan; the total is not

The plan is on file; the floor area is not.

□ no floor area published

Is it a good location?Open the map

Birmingham, B5 4RW

No schools in this postcode area 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.

2 problems found · 2 came back clear · 3 we could not check · 2 do 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 £307 a month

Let it to the council: £396 a year less, but they keep paying when it is empty.

Standard rental−£307 · £64,921 in

Guaranteed council rent−£340 · £64,921 in

Housing-benefit rent−£550 · £64,921 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) · 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

−£24,138 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 £64,921 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