Rented normally, it costs you £191 a month. That is £2,297 a year, every year you hold it.

Will it pay?Calculator

You top up £191 a month — the mortgage takes 79p of every pound of rent

Borrowing £35,345 less would close that shortfall — which is £35,345 more cash at the start, on top of the deposit.

£813 mortgage

£1,032 rent in£191 short

◧ market rent £1,032 · 19 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

£67,200 + refurb costs

And about £11,487 more over five years, because it loses £191 every month you hold it — before any repair. That already assumes the rent never falls.

£67,200 to buy it

deposit · stamp duty · solicitor · fees~£10,764, unseen

□ works not inspected

What would have to be true?The working

£45,000 off and it stops losing money

At the asking price you feed it £191 a month. At £152,871 the rent covers everything — leaving stamp duty of £8,201 at that price.

offer £152,871

asked £200,000

◧ 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 £157,500 in 2021

Nothing nearby is comparable, but asking is 27% more than the £157,500 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 £109,496 of the £150,000 loan

That £40,504 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 £22,985. Lenders test the rent at 7.5% and need it to cover 145% of the payment.

£1,359 needed

more than the £992 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £992PRA-style test

Is it a good location?Open the map

Peterborough, PE1 4PB

4 of 5 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 · 1 came back clear · 3 we could not check · 3 do 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 £191 a month

Let it to the council: £1,284 a year less, but they keep paying when it is empty.

Standard rental−£191 · £77,964 in

Guaranteed council rent−£298 · £77,964 in

Housing-benefit rent−£505 · £77,964 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) · Buy, improve & sell (pays out on sale)

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

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

−£17,580 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 £77,964 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