Rented normally, you'd make about £112 a month.

Will it pay?Calculator

£112 of every £1,825 is yours to keep, each month

You keep 6p of every pound of rent. The mortgage takes 62p.

£1,138 mortgage

£1,825 rent in£112 yours

◧ market rent £1,825 · 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

£103,350 + refurb costs

£33,350 of that never comes back — LBTT, solicitor and lender fees.

£103,350 to buy it

deposit · stamp duty · solicitor · fees~£23,400, unseen

□ 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 £280,000 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 £193,634 of the £210,000 loan

That £16,366 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.

£1,903 needed

more than the £1,755 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £1,755PRA-style test

How big is it, really?The plan

One figure, and nothing checking it 1,529 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

Kirkcaldy, KY2 5PA

No schools in this postcode area 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 · 1 came back clear · 5 we could not check · 2 do not apply to this property

■ from the Renters’ Rights Act 2025listing last seen 13 Sep 2026

Which strategy wins?The ways to run it

Short-stay let beats Rent by the room by £304 a month

Your controls are set to Standard rental — £581 a month behind Short-stay let.

Short-stay let+£693 · £126,750 in

32 nearby short-lets within 20 km · medium confidence

Rent by the room+£389 · £160,750 in

Standard rental+£112 · £126,750 in

Guaranteed council rent−£152 · £126,750 in

Housing-benefit rent−£411 · £126,750 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

−£11,701 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 27% in the price would leave nothing from a sale after selling costs, and you would still owe the lender any shortfall. That is the £126,750 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