Rented normally, it costs you £94 a month. That is £1,128 a year, every year you hold it.

Will it pay?Calculator

You top up £94 a month — the mortgage takes 59p of every pound of rent

Borrowing £17,349 less would close that shortfall — which is £17,349 more cash at the start, on top of the deposit.

£650 mortgage

£500 running

£1,098 rent in£94 short

◧ market rent £1,098 · 52 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

£54,100 + refurb costs

And about £5,638 more over five years, because it loses £94 every month you hold it — before any repair. That already assumes the rent never falls.

£54,100 to buy it

deposit · stamp duty · solicitor · fees~£6,417, unseen

□ works not inspected

What would have to be true?The working

£20,000 off and it stops losing money

At the asking price you feed it £94 a month. At £136,859 the rent covers everything — leaving stamp duty of £7,080 at that price.

offer £136,859

asked £160,000

◧ 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?The deeds

Last sold for £123,000 in 2018

Nothing nearby is comparable, but asking is 30% more than the £123,000 paid for it in 2018.

□ this address’s own deeds, no comparable saleHM Land Registry Price Paid Data

What will the rent borrow?Lender test

The rent carries £116,499 of the £120,000 loan

That £3,501 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 rent carries the whole loan. Lenders test the rent at 7.5% and need it to cover 145% of the payment.

£1,088 needed

more than the £1,056 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £1,056PRA-style test

How big is it, really?The plan

Measured off the plan, not by a surveyor 471 sq ft

The area comes off the plan, not a survey. Open for what that means.

□ area off the floorplan — not a survey

Is it a good location?Open the map

No school rated Good or better in this postcode area

1 school in this postcode area, none rated Good or better 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 · 3 came back clear · 2 we could not check · 2 do not apply to this property

■ from council licensing registerlisting last seen 13 Sep 2026

Which strategy wins?The ways to run it

Every way loses money — Standard rental loses least, at £94 a month

Let it to the council: £2,712 a year less, but they keep paying when it is empty.

Standard rental−£94 · £60,517 in

Short-stay let−£297 · £60,517 in

4 nearby short-lets within 20 km · low confidence

Guaranteed council rent−£320 · £60,517 in

Housing-benefit rent−£405 · £60,517 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) · 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

−£9,898 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 £60,517 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