Rented normally, it costs you £232 a month. That is £2,780 a year, every year you hold it.

Will it pay?Calculator

You top up £232 a month — the mortgage takes 83p of every pound of rent

Borrowing £42,772 less would close that shortfall — which is £42,772 more cash at the start, on top of the deposit.

£1,016 mortgage

£1,230 rent in£232 short

◧ market rent £1,230 · 10 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

£84,400 + refurb costs

And about £13,901 more over five years, because it loses £232 every month you hold it — before any repair. That already assumes the rent never falls.

£84,400 to buy it

~£23,805

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

□ works not inspected

What would have to be true?The working

£55,000 off and it stops losing money

At the asking price you feed it £232 a month. At £192,969 the rent covers everything — leaving stamp duty of £11,008 at that price.

offer £192,969

asked £250,000

◧ 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 £100,000 in 2008

Nothing nearby is comparable, but asking is 150% more than the £100,000 paid for it in 2008.

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

What will the rent borrow?Lender test

The rent carries £130,504 of the £187,500 loan

That £56,996 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 £36,115. Lenders test the rent at 7.5% and need it to cover 145% of the payment.

£1,699 needed

more than the £1,183 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £1,183PRA-style test

How big is it, really?The plan

The rooms are on the plan; the total is not

The plan is on file; the floor area is not.

□ no floor area published

Is it a good location?Open the map

Durham, DH1 5JL

2 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 · 5 we could not check · 1 does not apply to this property

■ from council licensing registerlisting last seen 18 Sep 2026

Which strategy wins?The ways to run it

Rent by the room beats Standard rental by £526 a month

Let it to the council: £4,356 a year less, but they keep paying when it is empty.

Rent by the room+£294 · £108,205 in

Standard rental−£232 · £108,205 in

Guaranteed council rent−£595 · £108,205 in

Housing-benefit rent−£736 · £108,205 in

Each row: money kept a month, then the cash it ties up. Not compared: 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)

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

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

−£24,987 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 28% in the price would leave nothing from a sale after selling costs, and you would still owe the lender any shortfall. That is the £108,205 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