Rented normally, you'd make about £217 a month, if it can be let.

Will it pay?Calculator

£217 of every £1,153 is yours to keep, each month

You keep 19p of every pound of rent. The mortgage takes 42p.

£488 mortgage

£1,153 rent in£217 yours

◧ market rent £1,153 · 6 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

£40,500 + refurb costs

£10,500 of that never comes back — stamp duty, solicitor and lender fees.

£40,500 to buy it

~£33,931

deposit · stamp duty · solicitor · feeswe haven’t been inside

□ works not inspected

What would have to be true?

Nothing — it works at the asking price

The rent covers the mortgage, the running costs and the tax at the £120,000 asked, so there is no discount this card has to name. A lower price would be upside, not a condition.

◧ worked back from the rent

What will the rent borrow?Lender test

The rent carries the whole loan — it could fall 26% 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.

£816 needed

of £1,109 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £1,109PRA-style test

Who has to say yes?Council record

Wolverhampton council approves 63% — 44% on a cautious reading

A council-wide rate across 27 HMO decisions, not a forecast for this address.

63%

0%50%100%

never approvesalways approves

the band is the cautious reading of the same 27 decisions — as low as 44%

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

How big is it, really?The plan

Measured off the plan, not by a surveyor 791 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

Bilston, WV14 8AX

5 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 11 Sep 2026

Which strategy wins?The ways to run it

Nothing here beats a plain let

Let it to the council: £1,440 a year less, but they keep paying when it is empty.

Standard rental+£217 · £74,431 in

Guaranteed council rent+£97 · £74,431 in

Rent by the room−£34 · £74,431 in

Housing-benefit rent−£110 · £74,431 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

+£2,608 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 35% in the price would leave nothing from a sale after selling costs, and you would still owe the lender any shortfall. That is the £74,431 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