Rented normally, it costs you £320 a month. That is £3,841 a year, every year you hold it.

Will it pay?Calculator

You top up £320 a month — the mortgage takes 72p of every pound of rent

Borrowing £59,099 less would close that shortfall — which is £59,099 more cash at the start, on top of the deposit.

£914 mortgage

£627 running

£1,270 rent in£320 short

◧ market rent £1,270 · 186 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

£75,450 + refurb costs

And about £19,207 more over five years, because it loses £320 every month you hold it — before any repair. That already assumes the rent never falls.

£75,450 to buy it

deposit · stamp duty · solicitor · fees~£11,960, unseen

□ works not inspected

What would have to be true?The working

£75,000 off and it stops losing money

At the asking price you feed it £320 a month. At £146,184 the rent covers everything — leaving land transaction tax of £7,309 at that price.

offer £146,184

asked £225,000

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

Is the price right?The deeds

Last sold for £186,000 in 2023

Nothing nearby is comparable, but asking is 21% more than the £186,000 paid for it in 2023.

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

Can we trust the rent?Rent evidence

Nearby lettings back this rent

We hold too few nearby asking rents to cross-check this figure, so nothing here confirms it a second way.

+176 more

our bar: 10 within 500 m

our own middle half£1,154–£1,398/mo

■ 186 lettings within 500 m□ no nearby asks to cross-checkAdvertised rents, not signed tenancies

What will the rent borrow?Lender test

The rent carries £134,748 of the £168,750 loan

That £34,002 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 £12,442. Lenders test the rent at 7.5% and need it to cover 145% of the payment.

£1,529 needed

more than the £1,221 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £1,221PRA-style test

How big is it, really?The plan

The rooms are on the plan; the total is not

The plan is on file; the floor area is not.

□ no floor area published

Is it a good location?Open the map

No school rated Good or better in this postcode area

1 school in this postcode area, none rated Good or better 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

£2,746 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 14 Sep 2026

Which strategy wins?The ways to run it

Every way loses money — Short-stay let loses least, at £292 a month

Let it to the council: £2,136 a year less, but they keep paying when it is empty.

Short-stay let−£292 · £87,410 in

6 nearby short-lets within 5.5 km · low confidence

Standard rental−£320 · £87,410 in

Guaranteed council rent−£498 · £87,410 in

Housing-benefit rent−£740 · £87,410 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) · 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

−£26,390 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 £87,410 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