Rented normally, it costs you £336 a month. That is £4,037 a year, every year you hold it.

Will it pay?Calculator

You top up £336 a month — the mortgage takes 70p of every pound of rent

Borrowing £62,115 less would close that shortfall — which is £62,115 more cash at the start, on top of the deposit.

£1,056 mortgage

£734 running

£1,512 rent in£336 short

◧ market rent £1,512 · 95 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

£88,425 + refurb costs

And about £20,187 more over five years, because it loses £336 every month you hold it — before any repair. That already assumes the rent never falls.

£88,425 to buy it

deposit · stamp duty · solicitor · fees~£14,950, unseen

□ works not inspected

What would have to be true?The working

£80,000 off and it stops losing money

At the asking price you feed it £336 a month. At £177,176 the rent covers everything — leaving stamp duty of £9,902 at that price.

offer £177,176

asked £260,000

◧ 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 £199,950 in 2013

Nothing nearby is comparable, but asking is 30% more than the £199,950 paid for it in 2013.

□ 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

We hold too few nearby asking rents to cross-check this figure, so nothing here confirms it a second way.

+85 more

our bar: 10 within 500 m

our own middle half£1,342–£1,704/mo

■ 95 lettings within 500 m□ no nearby asks to cross-checkAdvertised rents, not signed tenancies

What will the rent borrow?Lender test

The rent carries £160,424 of the £195,000 loan

That £34,576 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 £8,908. Lenders test the rent at 7.5% and need it to cover 145% of the payment.

£1,767 needed

more than the £1,454 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £1,454PRA-style test

How big is it, really?The plan

Measured off the plan, not by a surveyor 829 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

Reading, RG1 1PR

No schools in this postcode area 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

£3,605 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.

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

■ from the listinglisting last seen 15 Sep 2026

Which strategy wins?The ways to run it

Short-stay let beats Standard rental by £1,881 a month

Let it to the council: £2,724 a year less, but they keep paying when it is empty.

Short-stay let+£1,545 · £103,375 in

3 nearby short-lets within 20 km · low confidence

Standard rental−£336 · £103,375 in

Guaranteed council rent−£563 · £103,375 in

Housing-benefit rent−£749 · £103,375 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

−£29,898 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 26% in the price would leave nothing from a sale after selling costs, and you would still owe the lender any shortfall. That is the £103,375 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