Rented normally, it costs you £405 a month. That is £4,862 a year, every year you hold it.

Will it pay?Calculator

You top up £405 a month — the mortgage takes 76p of every pound of rent

Borrowing £74,799 less would close that shortfall — which is £74,799 more cash at the start, on top of the deposit.

£934 mortgage

£653 running

£1,229 rent in£405 short

◧ market rent £1,229 · 79 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

£77,550 + refurb costs

And about £24,310 more over five years, because it loses £405 every month you hold it — before any repair. That already assumes the rent never falls.

£77,550 to buy it

deposit · stamp duty · solicitor · fees~£7,487, unseen

□ works not inspected

What would have to be true?The search

No offer makes this pay

Even at £138,000 — well below the £230,000 asked — the rent still does not cover the costs. The gap is the rent against the running costs, not the price, so negotiating does not close it.

◧ worked back from the rent■ stamp duty re-bandedtested down to £138,000

Is the price right?Comparables

Nothing nearby is comparable — but it is 21% over its 2018 price

The dearest sold for 6.1× the cheapest, so the rent has to justify this price on its own.

you'd pay £230,000

£48,000

£51,000

£99,000

£105,500

£137,500

£174,000

£177,000

£200,000

£220,000

£240,000

£247,000

£291,000

£48k£169.5k£291k

£48,000 cheapest£291,000 dearest

12 completed sales, same property type, last 3 years

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

Can we trust the rent?Rent evidence

Nearby lettings back this rent

We hold too few nearby asking rents to cross-check this figure, so nothing here confirms it a second way.

+69 more

our bar: 10 within 500 m

our own middle half£1,174–£1,287/mo

■ 79 lettings within 500 m□ no nearby asks to cross-checkAdvertised rents, not signed tenancies

What will the rent borrow?Lender test

The rent carries £130,398 of the £172,500 loan

That £42,102 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 £21,238. Lenders test the rent at 7.5% and need it to cover 145% of the payment.

£1,563 needed

more than the £1,182 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £1,182PRA-style test

How big is it, really?The plan

Measured off the plan, not by a surveyor 598 sq ft

The area comes off the plan, not a survey. Open for what that means.

□ area off the floorplan — not a survey

Is it a good location?Open the map

Salford, M3 5NB

1 of 1 school in this postcode area rated Good or Outstanding 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

£3,130 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 · 2 came back clear · 3 we could not check · 2 do not apply to this property

■ from the listinglisting last seen 15 Sep 2026

Which strategy wins?The ways to run it

Short-stay let beats Standard rental by £578 a month

Let it to the council: £2,184 a year less, but they keep paying when it is empty.

Short-stay let+£173 · £85,037 in

95 nearby short-lets within 5.5 km · low confidence

Standard rental−£405 · £85,037 in

Guaranteed council rent−£587 · £85,037 in

Housing-benefit rent−£828 · £85,037 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) · 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

−£31,042 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 25% in the price would leave nothing from a sale after selling costs, and you would still owe the lender any shortfall. That is the £85,037 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