Rented normally, it costs you £466 a month. That is £5,589 a year, every year you hold it.

Will it pay?Calculator

The mortgage alone costs more than the whole rent — you top up £466 a month

It is £466 a month short. Borrowing £85,981 less would close that shortfall — which is £85,981 more cash at the start, on top of the deposit.

£812 mortgage

£675 rent in£466 short

◧ market rent £675 · 14 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

£67,199 + refurb costs

And about £27,944 more over five years, because it loses £466 every month you hold it — before any repair. That already assumes the rent never falls.

£67,199 to buy it

deposit · stamp duty · solicitor · fees~£1,350, unseen

□ works not inspected

What would have to be true?The search

No offer makes this pay

Even at £119,997 — well below the £199,995 asked — the rent still does not cover the costs. The gap is the rent against the running costs, not the price, so negotiating does not close it.

◧ worked back from the rent■ stamp duty re-bandedtested down to £119,997

What will the rent borrow?Lender test

The rent carries £71,618 of the £149,996 loan

That £78,378 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 £66,919. Lenders test the rent at 7.5% and need it to cover 145% of the payment.

£1,359 needed

more than the £649 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £649PRA-style test

Who has to say yes?Council record

County Durham council approves 0% — 0% on a cautious reading

A council-wide rate, not a forecast — and County Durham council refuses schemes that sandwich a family home. Check both neighbours.

0%

0%50%100%

never approvesalways approves

the band is the cautious reading of the same 3 decisions — as low as 0%

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

How big is it, really?The plan

The rooms are on the plan; the total is not

The plan is on file; the floor area is not.

□ no floor area published

Is it a good location?Open the map

Durham, TS28 5FG

1 of 4 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.

3 problems found · 1 came back clear · 4 we could not check · 1 does not apply to this property

■ from council licensing registerlisting last seen 15 Sep 2026

Which strategy wins?The ways to run it

Every way loses money — Rent by the room loses least, at £168 a month

Let it to the council: £240 a year less, but they keep paying when it is empty.

Rent by the room−£168 · £94,549 in

Standard rental−£466 · £68,549 in

Guaranteed council rent−£486 · £68,549 in

Housing-benefit rent−£604 · £68,549 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

−£32,581 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 23% in the price would leave nothing from a sale after selling costs, and you would still owe the lender any shortfall. That is the £68,549 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