Rented normally, it costs you £307 a month. That is £3,679 a year, every year you hold it.

Will it pay?Calculator

You top up £307 a month — the mortgage takes 89p of every pound of rent

Borrowing £56,603 less would close that shortfall — which is £56,603 more cash at the start, on top of the deposit.

+£1,296−£1,158−£445−£307

Rent inMortgageRunning costsShort by

The rent covers £1,296 of that — you cover £307

◧ market rent £1,296 · 127 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

£97,175 + refurb costs

And about £18,396 more over five years, because it loses £307 every month you hold it — before any repair. That already assumes the rent never falls.

£97,175 to buy it

deposit · stamp duty · solicitor · fees~£10,964, unseen

□ works not inspected

What would have to be true?The working

£75,000 off and it stops losing money

At the asking price you feed it £307 a month. At £209,520 the rent covers everything — leaving stamp duty of £12,166 at that price.

offer £209,520

asked £285,000

◧ 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

Nothing nearby is comparable — but it is 6% over its 2021 price

The dearest sold for 2.3× the cheapest, so the rent has to justify this price on its own.

you'd pay £285,000

£200,000

£210,000

£250,000

£255,000

£255,000

£260,000

£300,000

£305,000

£330,000

£342,000

£425,000

£457,000

£200k£328.5k£457k

£200,000 cheapest£457,000 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 £137,507 of the £213,750 loan

That £76,243 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 £54,242. Lenders test the rent at 7.5% and need it to cover 145% of the payment.

£1,937 needed

more than the £1,246 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £1,246PRA-style test

How big is it, really?The plan

The plan and the advert, side by side 600 sq ft

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

AdvertFloorplan

580 sq ft595 sq ft610 sq ft

580 sq ft610 sq ft

neither is a survey — a tape measure settles it

□ area off the floorplan — not a survey

Is it a good location?Open the map

Birmingham City Centre, B5 7EU

1 of 2 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

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 · 3 we could not check · 3 do not apply to this property

■ from council licensing registerlisting last seen 14 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: £3,108 a year less, but they keep paying when it is empty.

Standard rental−£307 · £108,139 in

Guaranteed council rent−£566 · £108,139 in

Short-stay let−£580 · £108,139 in

13 nearby short-lets within 5.5 km · medium confidence

Housing-benefit rent−£796 · £108,139 in

Each row: money kept a month, then the cash it ties up. Not compared: Rent by the room (only 2 bedrooms) · Do it up, then remortgage (pays back at the remortgage) · 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, after 5 years?The five-year sums

−£27,349 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 £108,139 you put in. The 5-year fix runs past this 5-year hold, so the rate reset comes after it.

−£108,139+£322,531−£8,063−£213,750−£19,928−£27,349

Cash you put inSale valueSelling costsMortgageRent lossesYou are down

◧ 2.0%/yr growth assumed