Rented normally, it costs you £746 a month. That is £8,955 a year, every year you hold it.

Will it pay?Calculator

The mortgage alone costs more than the whole rent — you top up £746 a month

It is £746 a month short. Borrowing £143,275 less would close that shortfall — which is £143,275 more cash at the start, on top of the deposit.

£1,660 mortgage

£1,609 rent in£746 short

£175 of that is a guess — no service charge published.

□ service charge not published2 empty weeks a year assumed

What if I change my assumptions?The dials

At the asking price, 25% deposit, 6.25% charged

Change any of these 16 and every card on this page changes with it. The 6.25% is the 5.50% quoted plus a company premium.

◧ worked out from local rents

What will it cost me to buy?Breakdown

£148,625 + refurb costs

And about £44,773 more over five years, because it loses £746 every month you hold it — before any repair. That already assumes the rent never falls.

£148,625 to buy it

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

□ works not inspected

What would have to be true?

We cannot price this without a postcode

Which purchase tax applies — stamp duty, LBTT or land transaction tax — is decided by the nation the address sits in, and this listing carries no postcode to resolve it. Rather than assume England and then price to the pound off it, this card does not answer. The agent can give you the postcode.

□ no postcode on the listing

What will the rent borrow?Lender test

The rent carries £170,716 of the £318,750 loan

That £148,034 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 £120,719. Lenders test the rent at 7.5% and need it to cover 145% of the payment.

£2,889 needed

more than the £1,547 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £1,547PRA-style test

Is it a good location?Open the map

Chelmsford

No schools in this postcode area and flood risk checking… — open for the map, the schools and the rest.

Article 4Not assessed for this address

■ mapped to a point, not an address

What to know before you offerThe checks

Every tenancy here is periodic, with no Section 21 to end it

Tenancies are now periodic, with no Section 21 — budget a longer void.

1 problem found · 1 came back clear · 5 we could not check · 2 do not apply to this property

■ from the Renters’ Rights Act 2025listing last seen 18 Sep 2026

Which strategy wins?The ways to run it

Every way loses money — Standard rental loses least, at £746 a month

Standard rental also ties up the least cash, £159,389.

Standard rental−£746 · £159,389 in

Housing-benefit rent−£1,149 · £159,389 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) · Guaranteed council rent (no scheme in this borough) · Buy, improve & sell (pays out on sale)

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

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

−£61,605 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 24% in the price would leave nothing from a sale after selling costs, and you would still owe the lender any shortfall. That is the £159,389 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