Rented normally, it costs you £58 a month. That is £696 a year, every year you hold it.

Will it pay?Calculator

You top up £58 a month — the mortgage takes 51p of every pound of rent

Borrowing £10,710 less would close that shortfall — which is £10,710 more cash at the start, on top of the deposit.

£650 mortgage

£627 running

£1,268 rent in£58 short

◧ market rent £1,268 · 136 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

£54,530 + refurb costs

And about £3,481 more over five years, because it loses £58 every month you hold it — before any repair. That already assumes the rent never falls.

£54,530 to buy it

deposit · stamp duty · solicitor · fees~£9,820, unseen

□ works not inspected

What would have to be true?The working

£10,000 off and it stops losing money

At the asking price you feed it £58 a month. At £145,719 the rent covers everything — leaving stamp duty of £7,700 at that price.

offer £145,719

asked £160,000

◧ worked back from the rent■ stamp duty re-bandedrounded down to £5,000 — the rent it works back from is an estimate

Can we trust the rent?Rent evidence

Nearby lettings back this rent

They are advertised rents rather than signed tenancies, so a slow month is still possible.

+126 more

our bar: 10 within 500 m

what 8 nearby lettings ask£827–£2,619/mo

our own middle half£1,139–£1,412/mo

■ 136 lettings within 500 mAdvertised rents, not signed tenancies

What will the rent borrow?Lender test

The rent carries the whole loan — it could fall 11% 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.

£1,088 needed

of £1,219 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £1,219PRA-style test

How big is it, really?The plan

The plan and the advert, side by side 661 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

Chester, CH3 5BE

2 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

£2,890 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 · 3 came back clear · 2 we could not check · 2 do not apply to this property

■ from the listinglisting last seen 11 Sep 2026

Which strategy wins?The ways to run it

Every way loses money — Standard rental loses least, at £58 a month

Let it to the council: £4,944 a year less, but they keep paying when it is empty.

Standard rental−£58 · £64,350 in

Guaranteed council rent−£470 · £64,350 in

Housing-benefit rent−£585 · £64,350 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) · Short-stay let (no local short-let data) · 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

−£9,013 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 £64,350 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