Rented normally, it costs you £877 a month. That is £10,522 a year, every year you hold it.

Will it pay?Calculator

The mortgage alone costs more than the whole rent — you top up £877 a month

It is £877 a month short. Borrowing £161,870 less would close that shortfall — which is £161,870 more cash at the start, on top of the deposit.

£2,438 mortgage

£2,235 rent in£877 short

◧ market rent £2,235 · 18 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

£212,900 + refurb costs

And about £52,608 more over five years, because it loses £877 every month you hold it — before any repair. That already assumes the rent never falls.

£212,900 to buy it

deposit · stamp duty · solicitor · fees~£20,528, unseen

□ works not inspected

What would have to be true?The working

£215,000 off and it stops losing money

At the asking price you feed it £877 a month. At £384,141 the rent covers everything — leaving stamp duty of £28,414 at that price.

offer £384,141

asked £600,000

◧ 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 3.7× the cheapest, so the rent has to justify this price on its own.

you'd pay £600,000

£230,000

£495,000

£500,000

£518,500

£535,000

£540,000

£636,110

£665,000

£720,000

£785,000

£815,000

£845,000

£230k£537.5k£845k

£230,000 cheapest£845,000 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 £237,135 of the £450,000 loan

That £212,865 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 £174,923. Lenders test the rent at 7.5% and need it to cover 145% of the payment.

£4,078 needed

more than the £2,149 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £2,149PRA-style test

Who has to say yes?Council record

Trafford council approves 71% — 51% on a cautious reading

A council-wide rate across 24 HMO decisions, not a forecast for this address.

71%

0%50%100%

never approvesalways approves

the band is the cautious reading of the same 24 decisions — as low as 51%

■ Article 4 — planning permission requireddecision record held for this authority

How big is it, really?The plan

Room to grow 1,250 sq ft

Two figures for this house, and neither is a survey. Open for both.

□ area off the floorplan — not a survey

Is it a good location?Open the map

Sale, M33 4HT

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 4Planning permission required to let by the room

■ postcode area, not this address

What could kill thisThe checks

The council here has taken away the automatic right to rent this out by the room

You would have to apply for permission first, and the council can say no.

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

■ from the Article 4 maplisting last seen 15 Sep 2026

Which strategy wins?The ways to run it

Short-stay let beats Standard rental by £1,078 a month

Let it to the council: £4,464 a year less, but they keep paying when it is empty.

Short-stay let+£201 · £233,428 in

3 nearby short-lets within 11.1 km · low confidence

Standard rental−£877 · £233,428 in

Rent by the room−£1,068 · £291,405 in

Guaranteed council rent−£1,249 · £233,428 in

Housing-benefit rent−£1,648 · £233,428 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) · Buy, improve & sell (pays out on sale)

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

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

−£80,165 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 £233,428 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

Could you let it by the room?Room by room

−£7 a month at 6 rooms on the room-add model, before tax, once converted

Room rents here do not cover what a 6-room house-share costs to run.

◧ room-add model · medium confidence■ 82 room adverts in M33Dwelfy’s room-add model, before tax