Rented normally, it costs you £83 a month. That is £998 a year, every year you hold it.

Will it pay?Calculator

You top up £83 a month — the mortgage takes 73p of every pound of rent

Borrowing £15,351 less would close that shortfall — which is £15,351 more cash at the start, on top of the deposit.

£934 mortgage

£1,282 rent in£83 short

◧ market rent £1,282 · 24 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

£76,900 + refurb costs

And about £4,989 more over five years, because it loses £83 every month you hold it — before any repair. That already assumes the rent never falls.

£76,900 to buy it

deposit · stamp duty · solicitor · fees~£15,369, unseen

□ works not inspected

What would have to be true?The working

£20,000 off and it stops losing money

At the asking price you feed it £83 a month. At £209,516 the rent covers everything — leaving land transaction tax of £11,509 at that price.

offer £209,516

asked £230,000

◧ worked back from the rent■ land transaction tax 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 £136,021 of the £172,500 loan

That £36,479 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 £14,715. Lenders test the rent at 7.5% and need it to cover 145% of the payment.

£1,563 needed

more than the £1,233 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £1,233PRA-style test

How big is it, really?The plan

One figure, and nothing checking it 947 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

Nearest stop up to 2 km away

Beyond a comfortable walk, and more than nine in ten listings we cover have one closer.

Article 4Not assessed for this address

■ postcode area, not this address■ nearest stop in our data□ kind of stop not recordedstraight-line distance, not the walk

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 · 2 came back clear · 4 we could not check · 1 does not apply to this property

■ from the flood maplisting last seen 16 Sep 2026

Which strategy wins?The ways to run it

Rent by the room beats Standard rental by £145 a month

Let it to the council: £1,044 a year less, but they keep paying when it is empty.

Rent by the room+£62 · £118,269 in

Standard rental−£83 · £92,269 in

Guaranteed council rent−£170 · £92,269 in

Housing-benefit rent−£436 · £92,269 in

Short-stay let−£463 · £92,269 in

56 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

−£11,829 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 £92,269 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