Rented normally, it costs you £117 a month. That is £1,404 a year, every year you hold it.

Will it pay?Calculator

You top up £117 a month — the mortgage takes 42p of every pound of rent

Borrowing £21,595 less would close that shortfall — which is £21,595 more cash at the start, on top of the deposit.

£488 running

£681 rent in£117 short

£25 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, 6.50% 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

£25,035 + refurb costs

And about £7,018 more over five years, because it loses £117 every month you hold it — before any repair. That already assumes the rent never falls.

£25,035 to buy it

~£11,362

deposit · stamp duty · solicitor · feeswe haven’t been inside

□ works not inspected

What would have to be true?The search

No offer makes this pay

Even at £41,970 — well below the £69,950 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 £41,970

Is the price right?The deeds

Last sold for £68,000 in 2025

Nothing nearby is comparable, and it is asking about what it fetched in 2025.

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

Can we trust the rent?Rent evidence

Nearby lettings, but only by searching 1.5 km

We widened the search to find them, so these are not next-door comparisons.

+90 more

our bar: 10 within 500 m

what 11 nearby lettings ask£490–£950/mo

our own middle half£641–£723/mo

■ 100 lettings within 1.5 km□ searched wider than our barAdvertised rents, not signed tenancies

What will the rent borrow?Lender test

The rent carries the whole loan — it could fall 27% and still cover it

Your deposit is what limits this one, not the rent. Lenders test the rent at 7.5% and need it to cover 145% of the payment.

£475 needed

of £655 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £655PRA-style test

Is it a good location?Open the map

No school rated Good or better in this postcode area

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

£1,860 a year in charges for the building, owed even when nobody is living there

The contract the property is sold under sets these charges, and they can go up over the years.

3 problems found · 1 came back clear · 3 we could not check · 2 do not apply to this property

■ from the listinglisting last seen 16 Sep 2026

Which strategy wins?The ways to run it

Every way loses money — Short-stay let loses least, at £31 a month

Let it to the council: £384 a year less, but they keep paying when it is empty.

Short-stay let−£31 · £36,397 in

20 nearby short-lets within 5.5 km · medium confidence

Standard rental−£117 · £36,397 in

Guaranteed council rent−£149 · £36,397 in

Housing-benefit rent−£260 · £36,397 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

−£13,212 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 30% in the price would leave nothing from a sale after selling costs, and you would still owe the lender any shortfall. That is the £36,397 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