Rented normally, it costs you £217 a month. That is £2,604 a year, every year you hold it.

Will it pay?Calculator

You top up £217 a month — the mortgage takes 84p of every pound of rent

Borrowing £40,058 less would close that shortfall — which is £40,058 more cash at the start, on top of the deposit.

£548 mortgage

£294 running

£650 rent in£217 short

◧ market rent £650 · 15 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

£45,425 + refurb costs

And about £13,019 more over five years, because it loses £217 every month you hold it — before any repair. That already assumes the rent never falls.

£45,425 to buy it

~£33,753

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

□ works not inspected

What would have to be true?The working

£50,000 off and it stops losing money

At the asking price you feed it £217 a month. At £81,580 the rent covers everything — leaving stamp duty of £4,079 at that price.

offer £81,580

asked £135,000

◧ 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 £68,966 of the £101,250 loan

That £32,284 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 £21,250. Lenders test the rent at 7.5% and need it to cover 145% of the payment.

£918 needed

more than the £625 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £625PRA-style test

How big is it, really?The plan

One figure, and nothing checking it 2,551 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

Middlesbrough, TS1 5AU

1 of 1 school 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

The property is being sold at auction, so the price shown is a guide, not what it will cost

Every figure on this page is worked from that price, so paying more than it cuts the return.

2 problems found · 4 we could not check · 3 do not apply to this property

■ from the listinglisting last seen 15 Sep 2026

Which strategy wins?The ways to run it

Every way loses money — Standard rental loses least, at £217 a month

Let it to the council: £1,680 a year less, but they keep paying when it is empty.

Standard rental−£217 · £79,178 in

Guaranteed council rent−£357 · £79,178 in

Housing-benefit rent−£441 · £79,178 in

Each row: money kept a month, then the cash it ties up. Not compared: Rent by the room (only 0 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?The five-year sums

−£25,589 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 34% in the price would leave nothing from a sale after selling costs, and you would still owe the lender any shortfall. That is the £79,178 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