Rented normally, it costs you £146 a month. That is £1,750 a year, every year you hold it.

Will it pay?Calculator

You top up £146 a month — the mortgage takes 67p of every pound of rent

Borrowing £26,926 less would close that shortfall — which is £26,926 more cash at the start, on top of the deposit.

£1,219 mortgage

£674 running

£1,817 rent in£146 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

£103,025 + refurb costs

And about £8,751 more over five years, because it loses £146 every month you hold it — before any repair. That already assumes the rent never falls.

£103,025 to buy it

deposit · stamp duty · solicitor · fees~£14,522, unseen

□ works not inspected

What would have to be true?The working

£35,000 off and it stops losing money

At the asking price you feed it £146 a month. At £264,082 the rent covers everything — leaving stamp duty of £16,408 at that price.

offer £264,082

asked £300,000

◧ 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 £300,000

£540,750

£585,000

£600,000

£625,000

£625,000

£630,000

£668,000

£680,000

£685,000

£835,062

£885,000

£1,200,000

£540.8k£870.4k£1.2m

£540,750 cheapest£1,200,000 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 £192,785 of the £225,000 loan

That £32,215 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 £1,369. Lenders test the rent at 7.5% and need it to cover 145% of the payment.

£2,039 needed

more than the £1,747 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £1,747PRA-style test

How big is it, really?The plan

One figure, and nothing checking it 585 sq ft

Only the agent’s figure exists for this house. Open for what that means.

□ area unchecked — agent’s own

Is it a good location?Open the map

London, N6 5LX

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 · 4 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 — Guaranteed council rent loses least, at £83 a month

Let it to the council and you keep £63 a month more, and they keep paying when it is empty.

Guaranteed council rent−£83 · £117,547 in

Standard rental−£146 · £117,547 in

Housing-benefit rent−£540 · £117,547 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

−£18,922 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 £117,547 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