Rented normally, you'd make about £2 a month.

Will it pay?Calculator

£2 of every £1,559 is yours to keep, each month

You keep under 1p of every pound of rent. The mortgage takes 68p.

£1,056 mortgage

£1,559 rent in£2 yours

◧ market rent £1,559 · 46 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

£88,050 + refurb costs

£23,050 of that never comes back — stamp duty, solicitor and lender fees.

£88,050 to buy it

deposit · stamp duty · solicitor · fees~£19,426, 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 £260,000 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

What will the rent borrow?Lender test

The rent carries £165,411 of the £195,000 loan

That £29,589 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 £3,123. Lenders test the rent at 7.5% and need it to cover 145% of the payment.

£1,767 needed

more than the £1,499 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £1,499PRA-style test

How big is it, really?The plan

One figure, and nothing checking it 1,241 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

No school rated Good or better in this postcode area

1 school in this postcode area, none rated Good or better 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 to know before you offerThe checks

Every tenancy here is periodic, with no Section 21 to end it

Tenancies are now periodic, with no Section 21 — budget a longer void.

1 problem found · 1 came back clear · 6 we could not check · 1 does not apply to this property

■ from the Renters’ Rights Act 2025listing last seen 15 Sep 2026

Which strategy wins?The ways to run it

Nothing here beats a plain let

Let it to the council: £1,896 a year less, but they keep paying when it is empty.

Standard rental+£2 · £107,476 in

Rent by the room−£155 · £107,476 in

Guaranteed council rent−£156 · £107,476 in

Housing-benefit rent−£368 · £107,476 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

−£8,854 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 27% in the price would leave nothing from a sale after selling costs, and you would still owe the lender any shortfall. That is the £107,476 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