Rented normally, it costs you £308 a month. That is £3,695 a year, every year you hold it.

Will it pay?Calculator

You top up £308 a month — the mortgage takes 83p of every pound of rent

Borrowing £56,849 less would close that shortfall — which is £56,849 more cash at the start, on top of the deposit.

£1,788 mortgage

£2,161 rent in£308 short

◧ market rent £2,161 · 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

£153,750 + refurb costs

And about £18,476 more over five years, because it loses £308 every month you hold it — before any repair. That already assumes the rent never falls.

£153,750 to buy it

deposit · stamp duty · solicitor · fees~£27,196, unseen

□ works not inspected

What would have to be true?The working

£75,000 off and it stops losing money

At the asking price you feed it £308 a month. At £364,160 the rent covers everything — leaving stamp duty of £26,416 at that price.

offer £364,160

asked £440,000

◧ 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 £229,284 of the £330,000 loan

That £100,716 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 £64,031. Lenders test the rent at 7.5% and need it to cover 145% of the payment.

£2,991 needed

more than the £2,078 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £2,078PRA-style test

How big is it, really?The plan

One figure, and nothing checking it 2,023 sq ft

Only the agent’s figure exists for this house. Open for what that means.

□ area unchecked — agent’s own

Is it a good location?Open the map

Stockton-on-Tees, TS18 4HW

2 of 2 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 12 Sep 2026

Which strategy wins?The ways to run it

Every way loses money — Standard rental loses least, at £308 a month

Let it to the council: £12,456 a year less, but they keep paying when it is empty.

Standard rental−£308 · £180,946 in

Rent by the room−£363 · £222,946 in

Guaranteed council rent−£1,346 · £180,946 in

Housing-benefit rent−£1,496 · £180,946 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

−£38,280 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 £180,946 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