Rented normally, it costs you £355 a month. That is £4,258 a year, every year you hold it.

Will it pay?Calculator

You top up £355 a month — the mortgage takes 97p of every pound of rent

Borrowing £65,514 less would close that shortfall — which is £65,514 more cash at the start, on top of the deposit.

£873 mortgage

£900 rent in£355 short

◧ market rent £900 · 7 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

£72,224 + refurb costs

And about £21,292 more over five years, because it loses £355 every month you hold it — before any repair. That already assumes the rent never falls.

£72,224 to buy it

deposit · stamp duty · solicitor · fees~£15,111, unseen

□ works not inspected

What would have to be true?The search

No offer makes this pay

Even at £128,997 — well below the £214,995 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 £128,997

Is the price right?The deeds

Last sold for £60,000 in 2017

Nothing nearby is comparable, but asking is 258% more than the £60,000 paid for it in 2017.

□ this address’s own deeds, no comparable saleHM Land Registry Price Paid Data

What will the rent borrow?Lender test

The rent carries £95,491 of the £161,246 loan

That £65,756 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 £50,477. Lenders test the rent at 7.5% and need it to cover 145% of the payment.

£1,461 needed

more than the £865 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £865PRA-style test

How big is it, really?The plan

One figure, and nothing checking it 850 sq ft

The advert and the survey disagree — open for both figures and the gap.

■ area measured on site

Is it a good location?Open the map

Durham, DH6 4HG

2 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 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 15 Sep 2026

Which strategy wins?The ways to run it

Every way loses money — Standard rental loses least, at £355 a month

Let it to the council: £3,252 a year less, but they keep paying when it is empty.

Standard rental−£355 · £87,335 in

Rent by the room−£433 · £87,335 in

Guaranteed council rent−£626 · £87,335 in

Housing-benefit rent−£731 · £87,335 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

−£29,635 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 £87,335 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