Rented normally, it costs you £5 a month. That is £56 a year, every year you hold it.

Will it pay?Calculator

You top up £5 a month — the mortgage takes 64p of every pound of rent

Borrowing £862 less would close that shortfall — which is £862 more cash at the start, on top of the deposit.

+£1,390−£894−£501−£5

Rent inMortgageRunning costsShort by

The rent covers £1,390 of that — you cover £5

◧ market rent £1,390 · 1 comp2 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

£73,900 + refurb costs

And about £280 more over five years, because it loses £5 every month you hold it — before any repair. That already assumes the rent never falls.

£73,900 to buy it

~£27,606

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

□ works not inspected

What would have to be true?

Break-even is within £5,000 of the asked price

It lands that close to the £220,000 asked — inside the step this card rounds to, and inside the confidence band on the rent it works back from. So the price asked is already about the price this rent carries, and there is no honest discount to print.

◧ worked back from the rent

Is the price right?The deeds

Last sold for £250,000 in 2007

Nothing nearby is comparable, but asking is 12% less than the £250,000 paid for it in 2007.

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

What will the rent borrow?Lender test

The rent carries £147,480 of the £165,000 loan

That £17,520 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.

£1,495 needed

more than the £1,337 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £1,337PRA-style test

Who has to say yes?Council record

Blackpool council decides

Named from the postcode, with no decision record under it. Check Blackpool council's pre-application advice before you commit to a room-let plan.

■ Article 4 — planning permission required◧ authority from the postcode□ no decision recordfrom the Article 4 map we hold

How big is it, really?The plan

One figure, and nothing checking it 2,056 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

4 schools in this postcode area, none rated Good or better 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 council here has taken away the automatic right to rent this out by the room

You would have to apply for permission first, and the council can say no.

3 problems found · 5 we could not check · 1 does not apply to this property

■ from the Article 4 maplisting last seen 19 Sep 2026

Which strategy wins?The ways to run it

Rent by the room beats Standard rental by £298 a month

Let it to the council: £5,148 a year less, but they keep paying when it is empty.

Rent by the room+£293 · £101,506 in

Standard rental−£5 · £101,506 in

Guaranteed council rent−£434 · £101,506 in

Housing-benefit rent−£582 · £101,506 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, after 5 years?The five-year sums

−£10,668 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 29% in the price would leave nothing from a sale after selling costs, and you would still owe the lender any shortfall. That is the £101,506 you put in. The 5-year fix runs past this 5-year hold, so the rate reset comes after it.

−£101,506+£262,709−£6,568−£165,000−£304−£10,668

Cash you put inSale valueSelling costsMortgageRent lossesYou are down

◧ 2.0%/yr growth assumed