Rented normally, you'd make about £640 a month.

Will it pay?Calculator

£640 of every £1,200 is yours to keep, each month

You keep 53p of every pound of rent. The mortgage takes under 1p.

£640 yours

£1,200 rent in£640 yours

◧ market rent £1,200 · 20 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

£3,095 + refurb costs

£2,782 of that never comes back — stamp duty, solicitor and lender fees.

£3,095 to buy it

deposit · stamp duty · solicitor · fees~£500, unseen

□ works not inspected

What would have to be true?

No recorded basis for the rent to work from

Every price on this card is that rent inverted, and this row records no basis for its rent — not that the rent is wrong, but that we cannot show it was measured against nearby lettings. A price quoted to the £5,000 needs evidence we can point at.

□ rent basis not recorded

Is the price right?Comparables

We can't tell — nothing nearby is alike enough

The dearest sold for 2.0× the cheapest, so the rent has to justify this price on its own.

you'd pay £1,250

£135,000

£142,000

£160,000

£165,000

£165,000

£212,500

£220,000

£230,000

£247,500

£257,500

£260,000

£272,500

£135k£203.8k£272.5k

£135,000 cheapest£272,500 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 the whole loan — it could fall 99% and still cover it

Your deposit is what limits this one, not the rent. Lenders test the rent at 7.5% and need it to cover 145% of the payment.

£8 neededof £1,154 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £1,154PRA-style test

How big is it, really?The working

One figure, and nothing checking it 904 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

Northampton, NN1 4NB

1 of 1 school 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 to know before you offerThe checks

Every tenancy here is periodic, with no Section 21 to end it

Tenancies are now periodic, with no Section 21 — budget a longer void.

1 problem found · 2 came back clear · 6 we could not check

■ from the Renters’ Rights Act 2025listing last seen 20 May 2026

Which strategy wins?The ways to run it

Nothing here beats a plain let

Let it to the council: £1,128 a year less, but they keep paying when it is empty.

Standard rental+£640 · £3,595 in

Rent by the room+£554 · £3,595 in

Guaranteed council rent+£546 · £3,595 in

Housing-benefit rent+£395 · £3,595 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

+£38,738 after five years on the cash you put in, before tax on the sale

More 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 39% in the price would leave nothing from a sale after selling costs, and you would still owe the lender any shortfall. That is the £3,595 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