Rented normally, it costs you £4 a month. That is £44 a year, every year you hold it.

What could kill thisThe checks

You would not own it outright — 57 years left, and buying more years is expensive

Nobody has priced those extra years here, and they cost more every year you leave it.

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

■ from the listinglisting last seen 14 Sep 2026

Will it pay?Calculator

You top up £4 a month — the mortgage takes 32p of every pound of rent

Borrowing £680 less would close that shortfall — which is £680 more cash at the start, on top of the deposit.

£485 running

£754 rent in£4 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, 6.50% 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

£21,900 + refurb costs

And about £221 more over five years, because it loses £4 every month you hold it — before any repair. That already assumes the rent never falls.

£21,900 to buy it

~£6,417

deposit · stamp duty · solicitor · feeswe haven’t been inside

□ works not inspected

What would have to be true?

Break-even is within £5,000 of the asked price

It lands that close to the £60,000 asked — inside the step this card rounds to, and inside the confidence band on the rent it works back from. So the price asked is already about the price this rent carries, and there is no honest discount to print.

◧ worked back from the rent

Can we trust the rent?Rent evidence

Nearby lettings, but only by searching 1.5 km

We widened the search to find them, so these are not next-door comparisons.

+142 more

our bar: 10 within 500 m

our own middle half£708–£803/mo

■ 152 lettings within 1.5 km□ searched wider than our barAdvertised rents, not signed tenancies

What will the rent borrow?Lender test

The rent carries the whole loan — it could fall 44% 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.

£408 needed

of £725 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £725PRA-style test

How big is it, really?The plan

The rooms are on the plan; the total is not

The plan is on file; the floor area is not.

□ no floor area published

Is it a good location?Open the map

Plymouth, PL2 1BY

1 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

Which strategy wins?The ways to run it

Every way loses money — Standard rental loses least, at £4 a month

Let it to the council: £1,008 a year less, but they keep paying when it is empty.

Standard rental−£4 · £28,317 in

Guaranteed council rent−£88 · £28,317 in

Housing-benefit rent−£208 · £28,317 in

Each row: money kept a month, then the cash it ties up. Not compared: Rent by the room (only 1 bedroom) · 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

−£4,478 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 28% in the price would leave nothing from a sale after selling costs, and you would still owe the lender any shortfall. That is the £28,317 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