Rented normally, you'd make about £323 a month, if it can be let.

Will it pay?Calculator

£323 of every £1,411 is yours to keep, each month

You keep 23p of every pound of rent. The mortgage takes 21p.

£659 running

£1,411 rent in£323 yours

£25 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

£26,153 + refurb costs

£7,778 of that never comes back — stamp duty, solicitor and lender fees.

£26,153 to buy it

~£10,764

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 £73,500 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

Is the price right?Why we stopped

This price does not look right

This price does not look like the whole property. Listings at this level are usually a share of a shared-ownership home, or a figure that has come through wrong — so any discount we calculated against it would be flattering and false. Check the listing before trusting a price verdict here.

□ Price not verified

What will the rent borrow?Lender test

The rent carries the whole loan — it could fall 63% 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.

£500 needed

of £1,357 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £1,357PRA-style test

How big is it, really?The plan

Measured off the plan, not by a surveyor 583 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

Stevenage, SG1 1AT

2 of 4 schools 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

£2,684 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 · 1 came back clear · 4 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

Nothing here beats a plain let

Let it to the council: £2,076 a year less, but they keep paying when it is empty.

Standard rental+£323 · £36,917 in

Guaranteed council rent+£150 · £36,917 in

Housing-benefit rent−£22 · £36,917 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

+£15,612 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 30% in the price would leave nothing from a sale after selling costs, and you would still owe the lender any shortfall. That is the £36,917 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