Rented normally, it costs you £253 a month. That is £3,034 a year, every year you hold it.

Will it pay?Calculator

You top up £253 a month — the mortgage takes 89p of every pound of rent

Borrowing £46,672 less would close that shortfall — which is £46,672 more cash at the start, on top of the deposit.

£650 mortgage

£731 rent in£253 short

◧ market rent £731 · 17 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

£53,800 + refurb costs

And about £15,168 more over five years, because it loses £253 every month you hold it — before any repair. That already assumes the rent never falls.

£53,800 to buy it

deposit · stamp duty · solicitor · fees~£10,615, unseen

□ works not inspected

What would have to be true?The working

£60,000 off and it stops losing money

At the asking price you feed it £253 a month. At £97,766 the rent covers everything — leaving stamp duty of £4,888 at that price.

offer £97,766

asked £160,000

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

What will the rent borrow?Lender test

The rent carries £77,560 of the £120,000 loan

That £42,440 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 £30,031. Lenders test the rent at 7.5% and need it to cover 145% of the payment.

£1,088 needed

more than the £703 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £703PRA-style test

How big is it, really?The working

One figure, and nothing checking it 688 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

Hull, HU16

No schools in this postcode area 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

The area is mapped as high flood risk

Flood maps cover areas, not buildings — treat it as a reason to search, not a verdict.

2 problems found · 1 came back clear · 3 we could not check · 3 do not apply to this property

■ from the flood maplisting last seen 09 Sep 2026

Which strategy wins?The ways to run it

Every way loses money — Standard rental loses least, at £253 a month

Standard rental also ties up the least cash, £64,415.

Standard rental−£253 · £64,415 in

Housing-benefit rent−£475 · £64,415 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) · Guaranteed council rent (no scheme in this borough) · Buy, improve & sell (pays out on sale)

◧ 2 ways, one measureranked on money kept each month, at the asking price

What would you walk away with?The five-year sums

−£21,182 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 £64,415 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