Rented normally, it costs you £103 a month. That is £1,239 a year, every year you hold it.

Will it pay?Calculator

You top up £103 a month — the mortgage takes 73p of every pound of rent

Borrowing £19,055 less would close that shortfall — which is £19,055 more cash at the start, on top of the deposit.

£894 mortgage

£1,220 rent in£103 short

◧ market rent £1,220 · 28 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

£73,900 + refurb costs

And about £6,193 more over five years, because it loses £103 every month you hold it — before any repair. That already assumes the rent never falls.

£73,900 to buy it

deposit · stamp duty · solicitor · fees~£17,630, unseen

□ works not inspected

What would have to be true?The working

£25,000 off and it stops losing money

At the asking price you feed it £103 a month. At £194,584 the rent covers everything — leaving stamp duty of £11,121 at that price.

offer £194,584

asked £220,000

◧ worked back from the rent■ stamp duty 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 £129,443 of the £165,000 loan

That £35,557 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 £14,846. Lenders test the rent at 7.5% and need it to cover 145% of the payment.

£1,495 needed

more than the £1,173 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £1,173PRA-style test

Who has to say yes?Council record

Birmingham council decides

Named from the postcode, with no decision record under it. Check Birmingham council's pre-application advice before you commit to a room-let plan.

■ Article 4 — planning permission required◧ authority from the postcode□ no decision recordfrom the Article 4 map we hold

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

No school rated Good or better in this postcode area

5 schools in this postcode area, none rated Good or better 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.

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 17 Sep 2026

Which strategy wins?The ways to run it

Every way loses money — Standard rental loses least, at £103 a month

Let it to the council: £1,452 a year less, but they keep paying when it is empty.

Standard rental−£103 · £91,530 in

Guaranteed council rent−£224 · £91,530 in

Rent by the room−£392 · £91,530 in

Housing-benefit rent−£477 · £91,530 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

−£14,077 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 £91,530 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