Rented normally, it costs you £364 a month. That is £4,367 a year, every year you hold it.

Will it pay?Calculator

You top up £364 a month — the mortgage takes 88p of every pound of rent

Borrowing £67,185 less would close that shortfall — which is £67,185 more cash at the start, on top of the deposit.

£1,706 mortgage

£1,950 rent in£364 short

◧ market rent £1,950 · 1 comp2 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

£146,450 + refurb costs

And about £21,835 more over five years, because it loses £364 every month you hold it — before any repair. That already assumes the rent never falls.

£146,450 to buy it

deposit · stamp duty · solicitor · fees~£21,942, unseen

□ works not inspected

What would have to be true?The working

£85,000 off and it stops losing money

At the asking price you feed it £364 a month. At £330,381 the rent covers everything — leaving stamp duty of £23,038 at that price.

offer £330,381

asked £420,000

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

What will the rent borrow?Lender test

The rent carries £206,897 of the £315,000 loan

That £108,103 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 £75,000. Lenders test the rent at 7.5% and need it to cover 145% of the payment.

£2,855 needed

more than the £1,875 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £1,875PRA-style test

How big is it, really?The plan

The plan and the advert, side by side 1,591 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

Southend-on-Sea, SS2 5JD

2 of 3 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

You would need a licence from the council first

Letting without the council’s licence is an offence, and the fee is in no figure here.

2 problems found · 2 came back clear · 4 we could not check · 1 does not apply to this property

■ from council licensing registerlisting last seen 13 Sep 2026

Which strategy wins?The ways to run it

Every way loses money — Rent by the room loses least, at £235 a month

Let it to the council: £3,480 a year less, but they keep paying when it is empty.

Rent by the room−£235 · £203,250 in

Standard rental−£364 · £168,392 in

Guaranteed council rent−£654 · £168,392 in

Housing-benefit rent−£933 · £168,392 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

−£39,571 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 £168,392 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

−£235 to +£328 a month at 5 rooms two models disagree, before tax, once converted

The floorplan supports 5 lettable rooms and £18,800 of work gets you there — but the two ways this page prices them do not agree on whether they pay.

◧ room-add model · medium confidence■ 119 room adverts in SS2Dwelfy’s room-add model, before tax