Rented normally, it costs you £130 a month. That is £1,564 a year, every year you hold it.

Will it pay?Calculator

You top up £130 a month — the mortgage takes 74p of every pound of rent

Borrowing £24,054 less would close that shortfall — which is £24,054 more cash at the start, on top of the deposit.

+£957−£711−£376−£130

Rent inMortgageRunning costsShort by

The rent covers £957 of that — you cover £130

◧ market rent £957 · 72 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

£58,825 + refurb costs

And about £7,818 more over five years, because it loses £130 every month you hold it — before any repair. That already assumes the rent never falls.

£58,825 to buy it

deposit · stamp duty · solicitor · fees~£10,764, unseen

□ works not inspected

What would have to be true?The working

£30,000 off and it stops losing money

At the asking price you feed it £130 a month. At £142,922 the rent covers everything — leaving stamp duty of £7,505 at that price.

offer £142,922

asked £175,000

◧ 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 £162,000 in 2021

Nothing nearby is comparable, but asking is 8% more than the £162,000 paid for it in 2021.

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

What will the rent borrow?Lender test

The rent carries £101,538 of the £131,250 loan

That £29,712 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 £13,465. Lenders test the rent at 7.5% and need it to cover 145% of the payment.

£1,189 needed

more than the £920 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £920PRA-style test

Is it a good location?Open the map

Leicester City, LE3 9GE

2 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

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 18 Sep 2026

Which strategy wins?The ways to run it

Every way loses money — Standard rental loses least, at £130 a month

Let it to the council: £1,080 a year less, but they keep paying when it is empty.

Standard rental−£130 · £69,589 in

Guaranteed council rent−£220 · £69,589 in

Housing-benefit rent−£420 · £69,589 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) · Short-stay let (no local short-let data) · Buy, improve & sell (pays out on sale)

◧ 3 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

−£13,392 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 26% in the price would leave nothing from a sale after selling costs, and you would still owe the lender any shortfall. That is the £69,589 you put in. The 5-year fix runs past this 5-year hold, so the rate reset comes after it.

−£69,589+£200,939−£5,023−£131,250−£8,469−£13,392

Cash you put inSale valueSelling costsMortgageRent lossesYou are down

◧ 2.0%/yr growth assumed