Rented normally, it costs you £138 a month. That is £1,658 a year, every year you hold it.

Will it pay?Calculator

You top up £138 a month — the mortgage takes 64p of every pound of rent

Borrowing £25,514 less would close that shortfall — which is £25,514 more cash at the start, on top of the deposit.

£873 mortgage

£587 running

£1,375 rent in£138 short

◧ market rent £1,375 · 171 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

£72,509 + refurb costs

And about £8,292 more over five years, because it loses £138 every month you hold it — before any repair. That already assumes the rent never falls.

£72,509 to buy it

deposit · stamp duty · solicitor · fees~£11,805, unseen

□ works not inspected

What would have to be true?The working

£30,000 off and it stops losing money

At the asking price you feed it £138 a month. At £180,923 the rent covers everything — leaving stamp duty of £10,165 at that price.

offer £180,923

asked £214,950

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

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.

+161 more

our bar: 10 within 500 m

our own middle half£1,318–£1,434/mo

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

What will the rent borrow?Lender test

The rent carries £145,889 of the £161,213 loan

That £15,324 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 rent carries the whole loan. Lenders test the rent at 7.5% and need it to cover 145% of the payment.

£1,461 needed

more than the £1,322 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £1,322PRA-style test

How big is it, really?The plan

One figure, and nothing checking it 648 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

Manchester, M17 1GW

No schools in this postcode area 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 not own it outright — 80 years left, and buying more years has already got dearer

Nobody has priced those extra years here — you buy them from whoever owns the building.

2 problems found · 3 came back clear · 2 we could not check · 2 do not apply to this property

■ from the listinglisting last seen 17 Sep 2026

Which strategy wins?The ways to run it

Short-stay let beats Standard rental by £406 a month

Let it to the council: £2,580 a year less, but they keep paying when it is empty.

Short-stay let+£268 · £84,314 in

72 nearby short-lets within 5.5 km · low confidence

Standard rental−£138 · £84,314 in

Guaranteed council rent−£353 · £84,314 in

Housing-benefit rent−£602 · £84,314 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

−£14,859 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 £84,314 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