Let by the room, it costs you £284 a month. That is £3,410 a year, every year you hold it.

Will it pay?Calculator

You top up £284 a month — the mortgage takes 68p of every pound of rent

Borrowing £50,899 less would close that shortfall — which is £50,899 more cash at the start, on top of the deposit.

£1,780 mortgage

£1,112 running

£2,607 rent in£284 short

□ market rent £2,607 · few comparables4 empty weeks a year assumed

What if I change my assumptions?The dials

At the asking price, 25% deposit, 6.70% charged

Change any of these 13 and every card on this page changes with it. The 6.70% is the 5.95% quoted plus a company premium.

◧ worked out from local rents

What will it cost me to buy?Breakdown

£148,275 + refurb and conversion costs

And about £17,051 more over five years, because it loses £284 every month you hold it — before any repair. That already assumes the rent never falls.

£148,275 to buy it

deposit · stamp duty · solicitor · fees~£13,011, unseen

□ works not inspected

What would have to be true?The working

£65,000 off and it stops losing money

At the asking price you feed it £284 a month. At £357,100 the rent covers everything — leaving stamp duty of £25,710 at that price.

offer £357,100

asked £425,000

◧ 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 £435,000 in 2022

Nothing nearby is comparable, and it is asking about what it fetched in 2022.

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

Can we trust the rent?Rent evidence

Nearby lettings, and none of them price letting it by the room

The room rents rest on 2356 local room lets, so treat them as a guide.

■ 45 whole-home lettings within 1.5 km□ does not price rent by the roomAdvertised rents on whole-home lettings

What will the rent borrow?Lender test

The rent carries £287,669 of the £318,750 loan

That £31,081 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.

£2,889 needed

more than the £2,607 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ market rent £2,607PRA-style test

How big is it, really?The plan

The rooms are on the plan; the total is not

The plan is on file; the floor area is not.

□ no floor area published

Is it a good location?Open the map

No school rated Good or better in this postcode area

2 schools 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

Short-stay let beats Rent by the room by £2,528 a month

Short-stay let also ties up the least cash, £149,625.

Short-stay let+£2,244 · £149,625 in

4 nearby short-lets within 11.1 km · low confidence

Rent by the room−£284 · £161,286 in

Standard rental−£317 · £149,625 in

Housing-benefit rent−£821 · £149,625 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) · Guaranteed council rent (no scheme in this borough) · 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

−£32,599 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 24% in the price would leave nothing from a sale after selling costs, and you would still owe the lender any shortfall. That is the £161,286 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

Could you let it by the room?Room by room

−£284 to +£208 a month at 5 rooms two models disagree, before tax, once converted

The floorplan supports 5 lettable rooms and £12,011 of work gets you there — but the two ways this page prices them do not agree on whether they pay.

◧ room-add model · medium confidence■ 223 room adverts in BH9Dwelfy’s room-add model, before tax