Rented normally, it costs you £43 a month. That is £518 a year, every year you hold it.

Will it pay?Calculator

You top up £43 a month — the mortgage takes 59p of every pound of rent

Borrowing £8,292 less would close that shortfall — which is £8,292 more cash at the start, on top of the deposit.

£918 mortgage

£613 running

£1,547 rent in£43 short

£175 of that is a guess — no service charge published.

□ service charge not published2 empty weeks a year assumed

What if I change my assumptions?The dials

At the asking price, 25% deposit, 6.25% charged

Change any of these 16 and every card on this page changes with it. The 6.25% is the 5.50% quoted plus a company premium.

◧ worked out from local rents

What will it cost me to buy?Breakdown

£79,225 + refurb costs

And about £2,591 more over five years, because it loses £43 every month you hold it — before any repair. That already assumes the rent never falls.

£79,225 to buy it

deposit · stamp duty · solicitor · fees~£10,764, unseen

□ works not inspected

What would have to be true?

We cannot price this without a postcode

Which purchase tax applies — stamp duty, LBTT or land transaction tax — is decided by the nation the address sits in, and this listing carries no postcode to resolve it. Rather than assume England and then price to the pound off it, this card does not answer. The agent can give you the postcode.

□ no postcode on the listing

What will the rent borrow?Lender test

The rent carries £164,138 of the £176,250 loan

That £12,112 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.

£1,597 needed

more than the £1,488 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £1,488PRA-style test

How big is it, really?The plan

Measured off the plan, not by a surveyor 485 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

Watford

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

■ mapped to a point, not an 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 · 5 we could not check · 2 do not apply to this property

■ from the Renters’ Rights Act 2025listing last seen 09 Sep 2026

Which strategy wins?The ways to run it

Every way loses money — Standard rental loses least, at £43 a month

Standard rental also ties up the least cash, £89,989.

Standard rental−£43 · £89,989 in

Housing-benefit rent−£140 · £89,989 in

Short-stay let−£830 · £89,989 in

89 nearby short-lets within 20 km · low confidence

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) · Guaranteed council rent (no scheme in this borough) · Buy, improve & sell (pays out on sale)

◧ 3 ways, one measureranked on money kept each month, at the asking price

What would you walk away with?The five-year sums

−£8,542 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 25% in the price would leave nothing from a sale after selling costs, and you would still owe the lender any shortfall. That is the £89,989 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