Rented normally, it costs you £20 a month. That is £242 a year, every year you hold it.

Will it pay?Calculator

You top up £20 a month — the mortgage takes 55p of every pound of rent

Borrowing £3,717 less would close that shortfall — which is £3,717 more cash at the start, on top of the deposit.

£894 mortgage

£699 running

£1,635 rent in£20 short

◧ market rent £1,635 · 71 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

£74,200 + refurb costs

And about £1,208 more over five years, because it loses £20 every month you hold it — before any repair. That already assumes the rent never falls.

£74,200 to buy it

deposit · stamp duty · solicitor · fees~£16,783, unseen

□ 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 £145,000 in 2009

Nothing nearby is comparable, but asking is 52% more than the £145,000 paid for it in 2009.

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

Can we trust the rent?Rent evidence

Nearby lettings back this rent

A real local sample, but short of our bar of ten inside 500 metres — treat the rent as workable rather than settled.

+61 more

our bar: 10 within 500 m

what 13 nearby lettings ask£1,450–£1,850/mo

our own middle half£1,527–£1,751/mo

■ 71 lettings within 1 kmAdvertised rents, not signed tenancies

What will the rent borrow?Lender test

The rent carries the whole loan — it could fall 5% and still cover it

Your deposit is what limits this one, not the rent. Lenders test the rent at 7.5% and need it to cover 145% of the payment.

£1,495 needed

of £1,572 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £1,572PRA-style test

How big is it, really?The plan

The plan and the advert, side by side 702 sq ft

Two figures for this house, and neither is a survey. Open for both.

□ area off the floorplan — not a survey

Is it a good location?Open the map

Ilford, IG6 2TQ

4 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

£2,965 a year in charges for the building, owed even when nobody is living there

The contract the property is sold under sets these charges, and they can go up over the years.

2 problems found · 2 came back clear · 3 we could not check · 2 do not apply to this property

■ from the listinglisting last seen 09 Sep 2026

Which strategy wins?The ways to run it

Short-stay let beats Standard rental by £285 a month

Let it to the council: £912 a year less, but they keep paying when it is empty.

Short-stay let+£265 · £90,983 in

13 nearby short-lets within 5.5 km · medium confidence

Standard rental−£20 · £90,983 in

Guaranteed council rent−£96 · £90,983 in

Housing-benefit rent−£415 · £90,983 in

Each row: money kept a month, then the cash it ties up. Not compared: Rent by the room (only 2 bedrooms) · Do it up, then remortgage (pays back at the remortgage) · 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

−£8,723 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 £90,983 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