Rented normally, it costs you £39 a month. That is £464 a year, every year you hold it.

Will it pay?Calculator

You top up £39 a month — the mortgage takes 70p of every pound of rent

Borrowing £7,137 less would close that shortfall — which is £7,137 more cash at the start, on top of the deposit.

£1,219 mortgage

£1,749 rent in£39 short

◧ market rent £1,749 · 3 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

£102,650 + refurb costs

And about £2,320 more over five years, because it loses £39 every month you hold it — before any repair. That already assumes the rent never falls.

£102,650 to buy it

deposit · stamp duty · solicitor · fees~£23,805, unseen

□ works not inspected

What would have to be true?The working

£5,000 off and it stops losing money

At the asking price you feed it £39 a month. At £290,479 the rent covers everything — leaving stamp duty of £19,048 at that price.

offer £290,479

asked £300,000

◧ 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?Comparables

Nothing nearby is comparable — but it is 323% over its 1999 price

The dearest sold for 2.9× the cheapest, so the rent has to justify this price on its own.

you'd pay £300,000

£200,000

£200,000

£254,000

£265,000

£363,000

£365,000

£367,500

£387,000

£402,000

£415,000

£485,000

£570,000

£200k£385k£570k

£200,000 cheapest£570,000 dearest

12 completed sales, same property type, last 3 years

□ 12 sold nearby, not matched on sizeHM Land Registry Price Paid Data

What will the rent borrow?Lender test

The rent carries £185,570 of the £225,000 loan

That £39,430 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 £9,738. Lenders test the rent at 7.5% and need it to cover 145% of the payment.

£2,039 needed

more than the £1,682 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £1,682PRA-style test

How big is it, really?The plan

Measured off the plan, not by a surveyor 1,302 sq ft

The area comes off the plan, not a survey. Open for what that means.

□ area off the floorplan — not a survey

Is it a good location?Open the map

Derby, DE21 4SR

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 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 · 2 came back clear · 5 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

Rent by the room beats Standard rental by £342 a month

Let it to the council: £5,460 a year less, but they keep paying when it is empty.

Rent by the room+£303 · £170,544 in

Standard rental−£39 · £126,455 in

Guaranteed council rent−£494 · £126,455 in

Housing-benefit rent−£763 · £126,455 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

−£14,368 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 £126,455 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

+£763 a month at 6 rooms on the room-add model, before tax, once converted

The floorplan supports 6 lettable rooms, and £25,894 of work gets you there.

◧ room-add model · medium confidence■ 39 room adverts in DE21Dwelfy’s room-add model, before tax