Rented normally, you'd make about £639 a month, if it can be let.

Will it pay?Calculator

£639 of every £1,200 is yours to keep, each month

You keep 53p of every pound of rent. The mortgage takes under 1p.

£639 yours

£1,200 rent in£639 yours

◧ market rent £1,200 · 3 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

£3,173 + refurb costs

£2,798 of that never comes back — stamp duty, solicitor and lender fees.

£3,173 to buy it

~£900

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

□ works not inspected

What would have to be true?

Nothing — it works at the asking price

The rent covers the mortgage, the running costs and the tax at the £1,500 asked, so there is no discount this card has to name. A lower price would be upside, not a condition.

◧ worked back from the rent

What will the rent borrow?Lender test

The rent carries the whole loan — it could fall 99% 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.

£10 neededof £1,154 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £1,154PRA-style test

Is it a good location?Open the map

Colchester, CO7 9JN

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

What to know before you offerThe checks

Every tenancy here is periodic, with no Section 21 to end it

Tenancies are now periodic, with no Section 21 — budget a longer void.

1 problem found · 1 came back clear · 7 we could not check

■ from the Renters’ Rights Act 2025listing last seen 20 May 2026

Which strategy wins?The ways to run it

Nothing here beats a plain let

Let it to the council: £444 a year less, but they keep paying when it is empty.

Standard rental+£639 · £4,073 in

Guaranteed council rent+£602 · £4,073 in

Rent by the room+£578 · £4,073 in

Housing-benefit rent+£439 · £4,073 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

+£38,571 after five years on the cash you put in, before tax on the sale

More 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 45% in the price would leave nothing from a sale after selling costs, and you would still owe the lender any shortfall. That is the £4,073 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