Rented normally, it costs you £91 a month. That is £1,086 a year, every year you hold it.

Will it pay?Calculator

You top up £91 a month — the mortgage takes 62p of every pound of rent

Borrowing £16,709 less would close that shortfall — which is £16,709 more cash at the start, on top of the deposit.

+£723−£447−£367−£91

Rent inMortgageRunning costsShort by

The rent covers £723 of that — you cover £91

◧ market rent £723 · 86 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

£37,350 + refurb costs

And about £5,430 more over five years, because it loses £91 every month you hold it — before any repair. That already assumes the rent never falls.

£37,350 to buy it

~£10,764

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

□ 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 £91 a month. At £87,721 the rent covers everything — leaving stamp duty of £4,386 at that price.

offer £87,721

asked £110,000

◧ worked back from the rent■ stamp duty re-bandedrounded down to £5,000 — the rent it works back from is an estimate

What will the rent borrow?Lender test

The rent carries £76,711 of the £82,500 loan

That £5,789 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.

£748 needed

more than the £695 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £695PRA-style test

How big is it, really?The plan

Measured off the plan, not by a surveyor 773 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

Hull, HU6 9BH

3 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 4Not assessed for this address

■ postcode area, not this address

What could kill thisThe checks

The area is mapped as high flood risk

Flood maps cover areas, not buildings — treat it as a reason to search, not a verdict.

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

■ from the flood maplisting last seen 18 Sep 2026

Which strategy wins?The ways to run it

Every way loses money — Standard rental loses least, at £91 a month

Standard rental also ties up the least cash, £48,114.

Standard rental−£91 · £48,114 in

Housing-benefit rent−£326 · £48,114 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) · Guaranteed council rent (no scheme in this borough) · Buy, improve & sell (pays out on sale)

◧ 2 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

−£10,552 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 28% in the price would leave nothing from a sale after selling costs, and you would still owe the lender any shortfall. That is the £48,114 you put in. The 5-year fix runs past this 5-year hold, so the rate reset comes after it.

−£48,114+£129,174−£3,229−£82,500−£5,883−£10,552

Cash you put inSale valueSelling costsMortgageRent lossesYou are down

◧ 2.0%/yr growth assumed