Rented normally, you'd make about £197 a month.

Will it pay?Calculator

£197 of every £3,922 is yours to keep, each month

You keep 5p of every pound of rent. The mortgage takes 67p.

£2,641 mortgage

£3,922 rent in£197 yours

◧ market rent £3,922 · 5 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

£231,150 + refurb costs

£68,650 of that never comes back — stamp duty, solicitor and lender fees.

£231,150 to buy it

deposit · stamp duty · solicitor · fees~£41,532, unseen

□ 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 £650,000 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 £416,127 of the £487,500 loan

That £71,373 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 £4,792. Lenders test the rent at 7.5% and need it to cover 145% of the payment.

£4,418 needed

more than the £3,771 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £3,771PRA-style test

How big is it, really?The plan

One figure, and nothing checking it 1,983 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

Croydon, CR0 8XB

2 of 2 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

Rent by the room beats Standard rental by £39 a month

Let it to the council: £13,968 a year less, but they keep paying when it is empty.

Rent by the room+£236 · £322,682 in

Standard rental+£197 · £272,682 in

Guaranteed council rent−£967 · £272,682 in

Housing-benefit rent−£1,467 · £272,682 in

Short-stay let−£2,000 · £272,682 in

13 nearby short-lets within 5.5 km · low confidence

Each row: money kept a month, then the cash it ties up. Not compared: Do it up, then remortgage (pays back at the remortgage) · Buy, improve & sell (pays out on sale)

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

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

−£18,616 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 £272,682 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