Rented normally, it costs you £616 a month. That is £7,395 a year, every year you hold it.

Will it pay?Calculator

You top up £616 a month — the mortgage takes 98p of every pound of rent

Borrowing £113,764 less would close that shortfall — which is £113,764 more cash at the start, on top of the deposit.

£2,234 mortgage

£2,291 rent in£616 short

◧ market rent £2,291 · 34 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

£194,650 + refurb costs

And about £36,973 more over five years, because it loses £616 every month you hold it — before any repair. That already assumes the rent never falls.

£194,650 to buy it

deposit · stamp duty · solicitor · fees~£20,988, unseen

□ works not inspected

What would have to be true?The working

£150,000 off and it stops losing money

At the asking price you feed it £616 a month. At £398,267 the rent covers everything — leaving stamp duty of £29,827 at that price.

offer £398,267

asked £550,000

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

Is the price right?The deeds

Last sold for £502,500 in 2021

Nothing nearby is comparable, but asking is 9% more than the £502,500 paid for it in 2021.

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

What will the rent borrow?Lender test

The rent carries £243,077 of the £412,500 loan

That £169,423 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 £130,531. Lenders test the rent at 7.5% and need it to cover 145% of the payment.

£3,738 needed

more than the £2,203 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £2,203PRA-style test

Who has to say yes?Council record

Brighton and Hove council approves 67% — 62% on a cautious reading

A council-wide rate, not a forecast — and Brighton and Hove council refuses schemes that sandwich a family home. Check both neighbours.

67%

0%50%100%

never approvesalways approves

the band is the cautious reading of the same 342 decisions — as low as 62%

■ Article 4 — planning permission requireddecision record held for this authority

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

2 schools in this postcode area, none rated Good or better 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

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.

3 problems found · 1 came back clear · 4 we could not check · 1 does not apply to this property

■ from council licensing registerlisting last seen 16 Sep 2026

Which strategy wins?The ways to run it

Every way loses money — Standard rental loses least, at £616 a month

Let it to the council: £4,644 a year less, but they keep paying when it is empty.

Standard rental−£616 · £215,638 in

Guaranteed council rent−£1,003 · £215,638 in

Rent by the room−£1,069 · £241,638 in

Short-stay let−£1,074 · £215,638 in

110 nearby short-lets within 5.5 km · medium confidence

Housing-benefit rent−£1,387 · £215,638 in

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

−£61,441 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 25% in the price would leave nothing from a sale after selling costs, and you would still owe the lender any shortfall. That is the £215,638 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