Rented normally, it costs you £252 a month. That is £3,023 a year, every year you hold it.

Will it pay?Calculator

You top up £252 a month — the mortgage takes 84p of every pound of rent

Borrowing £46,515 less would close that shortfall — which is £46,515 more cash at the start, on top of the deposit.

£975 mortgage

£1,166 rent in£252 short

◧ market rent £1,166 · 13 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

£80,600 + refurb costs

And about £15,117 more over five years, because it loses £252 every month you hold it — before any repair. That already assumes the rent never falls.

£80,600 to buy it

deposit · stamp duty · solicitor · fees~£16,790, unseen

□ works not inspected

What would have to be true?The working

£60,000 off and it stops losing money

At the asking price you feed it £252 a month. At £177,961 the rent covers everything — leaving stamp duty of £9,957 at that price.

offer £177,961

asked £240,000

◧ 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 £70,995 in 2001

Nothing nearby is comparable, but asking is 238% more than the £70,995 paid for it in 2001.

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

What will the rent borrow?Lender test

The rent carries £123,714 of the £180,000 loan

That £56,286 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 £36,492. Lenders test the rent at 7.5% and need it to cover 145% of the payment.

£1,631 needed

more than the £1,121 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £1,121PRA-style test

Is it a good location?Open the map

Leeds, LS10 4TS

3 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 · 1 came back clear · 5 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 — Standard rental loses least, at £252 a month

Let it to the council: £1,884 a year less, but they keep paying when it is empty.

Standard rental−£252 · £97,390 in

Rent by the room−£372 · £97,390 in

Guaranteed council rent−£409 · £97,390 in

Housing-benefit rent−£562 · £97,390 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

−£23,663 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 £97,390 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