Rented normally, it costs you £189 a month. That is £2,272 a year, every year you hold it.

Will it pay?Calculator

You top up £189 a month — the mortgage takes 64p of every pound of rent

Borrowing £34,954 less would close that shortfall — which is £34,954 more cash at the start, on top of the deposit.

£691 mortgage

£543 running

£1,086 rent in£189 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

£57,450 + refurb costs

And about £11,360 more over five years, because it loses £189 every month you hold it — before any repair. That already assumes the rent never falls.

£57,450 to buy it

deposit · stamp duty · solicitor · fees~£11,457, unseen

□ works not inspected

What would have to be true?The working

£45,000 off and it stops losing money

At the asking price you feed it £189 a month. At £123,383 the rent covers everything — leaving stamp duty of £6,169 at that price.

offer £123,383

asked £170,000

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

Is the price right?Comparables

We can't tell — nothing nearby is alike enough

The dearest sold for 1.5× the cheapest, so the rent has to justify this price on its own.

you'd pay £170,000

£113,000

£121,000

£125,000

£125,000

£130,000

£135,000

£135,000

£142,000

£158,000

£160,000

£160,000

£168,000

£113k£140.5k£168k

£113,000 cheapest£168,000 dearest

12 completed sales, same property type, last 3 years

□ 12 sold nearby, not matched on sizeHM Land Registry Price Paid Data

What will the rent borrow?Lender test

The rent carries £115,225 of the £127,500 loan

That £12,275 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.

£1,155 needed

more than the £1,044 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £1,044PRA-style test

How big is it, really?The working

One figure, and nothing checking it 624 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

No school rated Good or better in this postcode area

5 schools in this postcode area, none rated Good or better and flood risk checking… — open for the map, the schools and the rest.

Article 4Planning permission required to let by the room

■ 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 · 3 we could not check · 2 do not apply to this property

■ from council licensing registerlisting last seen 15 Sep 2026

Which strategy wins?The ways to run it

Every way loses money — Guaranteed council rent loses least, at £153 a month

Let it to the council and you keep £36 a month more, and they keep paying when it is empty.

Guaranteed council rent−£153 · £68,907 in

Standard rental−£189 · £68,907 in

Housing-benefit rent−£416 · £68,907 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

−£17,695 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 £68,907 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