Rented normally, it costs you £886 a month. That is £10,634 a year, every year you hold it.

Will it pay?Calculator

The mortgage alone costs more than the whole rent — you top up £886 a month

It is £886 a month short. Borrowing £163,593 less would close that shortfall — which is £163,593 more cash at the start, on top of the deposit.

£1,036 mortgage

£437 rent in£886 short

◧ market rent £437 · 8 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

£86,225 + refurb costs

And about £53,168 more over five years, because it loses £886 every month you hold it — before any repair. That already assumes the rent never falls.

£86,225 to buy it

deposit · stamp duty · solicitor · fees~£2,070, unseen

□ works not inspected

What would have to be true?The search

No offer makes this pay

Even at £153,000 — well below the £255,000 asked — the rent still does not cover the costs. The gap is the rent against the running costs, not the price, so negotiating does not close it.

◧ worked back from the rent■ stamp duty re-bandedtested down to £153,000

What will the rent borrow?Lender test

The rent carries £46,366 of the £191,250 loan

That £144,884 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 £137,465. Lenders test the rent at 7.5% and need it to cover 145% of the payment.

£1,733 needed

more than the £420 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £420PRA-style test

Is it a good location?Open the map

Blackpool, FY4 1JH

1 of 2 schools in this postcode area rated Good or Outstanding 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

The property is being sold at auction, so the price shown is a guide, not what it will cost

Every figure on this page is worked from that price, so paying more than it cuts the return.

2 problems found · 4 we could not check · 3 do not apply to this property

■ from the listinglisting last seen 17 Sep 2026

Which strategy wins?The ways to run it

Every way loses money — Guaranteed council rent loses least, at £864 a month

Let it to the council and you keep £22 a month more, and they keep paying when it is empty.

Guaranteed council rent−£864 · £88,295 in

Standard rental−£886 · £88,295 in

Housing-benefit rent−£946 · £88,295 in

Each row: money kept a month, then the cash it ties up. Not compared: Rent by the room (only 0 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

−£61,189 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 23% in the price would leave nothing from a sale after selling costs, and you would still owe the lender any shortfall. That is the £88,295 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