Rented normally, you'd make about £73 a month.

Will it pay?Calculator

£73 of every £2,119 is yours to keep, each month

You keep 3p of every pound of rent. The mortgage takes 58p.

£1,219 mortgage

£728 running

£2,119 rent in£73 yours

£175 of that is a guess — no service charge published.

□ service charge not published2 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

£103,025 + refurb costs

£28,025 of that never comes back — stamp duty, solicitor and lender fees.

£103,025 to buy it

deposit · stamp duty · solicitor · fees~£19,874, 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 £300,000 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

Is the price right?The deeds

Last sold for £225,000 in 2013

Nothing nearby is comparable, but asking is 33% more than the £225,000 paid for it in 2013.

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

What will the rent borrow?Lender test

The rent carries £224,828 of the £225,000 loan

That £172 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.

£2,039 needed

more than the £2,038 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £2,038PRA-style test

How big is it, really?The plan

One figure, and nothing checking it 862 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

Croydon, CR0 2AT

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 4Not assessed for this address

■ 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 · 3 came back clear · 4 we could not check

■ from council licensing registerlisting last seen 15 Sep 2026

Which strategy wins?The ways to run it

Nothing here beats a plain let

Let it to the council: £2,280 a year less, but they keep paying when it is empty.

Standard rental+£73 · £122,899 in

Guaranteed council rent−£117 · £122,899 in

Housing-benefit rent−£508 · £122,899 in

Rent by the room−£810 · £122,899 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

−£6,276 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 £122,899 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