Rented normally, it costs you £263 a month. That is £3,158 a year, every year you hold it.

Will it pay?Calculator

You top up £263 a month — the mortgage takes 52p of every pound of rent

Borrowing £48,591 less would close that shortfall — which is £48,591 more cash at the start, on top of the deposit.

+£1,875−£975−£1,163−£263

Rent inMortgageRunning costsShort by

The rent covers £1,875 of that — you cover £263

◧ market rent £1,875 · 17 comps2 empty weeks a year assumed

What if I change my assumptions?The dials

At the asking price, 25% deposit, 6.50% charged

Try your own numbersLive

You keep-£263/mo

All-in cash£97,776

PaybackNever

Offer−+

Deposit−+

Mortgage rate−+

Rent−+

Worked at 6.50% — 5.75% quoted plus a company premium.

◧ worked out from local rents

What will it cost me to buy?Breakdown

£80,900 + refurb costs

And about £15,792 more over five years, because it loses £263 every month you hold it — before any repair. That already assumes the rent never falls.

£80,900 to buy it

deposit · stamp duty · solicitor · fees~£16,876, unseen

□ works not inspected

What would have to be true?The working

£60,000 off and it stops losing money

At the asking price you feed it £263 a month. At £175,195 the rent covers everything — leaving stamp duty of £9,764 at that price.

offer £175,195

asked £240,000

◧ 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 £395,000 in 2007

Nothing nearby is comparable, but asking is 39% less than the £395,000 paid for it in 2007.

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

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.

+7 more

our bar: 10 within 500 m

our own middle half£1,755–£2,003/mo

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

What will the rent borrow?Lender test

The rent carries the whole loan — it could fall 10% 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.

£1,631 needed

of £1,803 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £1,803PRA-style test

Who has to say yes?Council record

Birmingham council approves 50% — 45% on a cautious reading

A council-wide rate, not a forecast — and Birmingham council refuses schemes that sandwich a family home. Check both neighbours.

50%

0%50%100%

never approvesalways approves

the band is the cautious reading of the same 393 decisions — as low as 45%

■ Article 4 — planning permission requireddecision record held for this authority

How big is it, really?The plan

The plan and the advert, side by side 988 sq ft

Two figures for this house, and neither is a survey. Open for both.

AdvertFloorplan

978 sq ft993 sq ft1k sq ft

978 sq ft1,008 sq ft

neither is a survey — a tape measure settles it

□ area off the floorplan — not a survey

Is it a good location?Open the map

No school rated Good or better in this postcode area

1 school in this postcode area, none rated Good or better 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

£7,168 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 · 2 came back clear · 4 we could not check

■ from the listinglisting last seen 19 Sep 2026

Which strategy wins?The ways to run it

Every way loses money — Standard rental loses least, at £263 a month

Let it to the council: £7,776 a year less, but they keep paying when it is empty.

Standard rental−£263 · £97,776 in

Rent by the room−£590 · £123,776 in

Guaranteed council rent−£911 · £97,776 in

Short-stay let−£1,027 · £97,776 in

98 nearby short-lets within 5.5 km · low confidence

Housing-benefit rent−£1,179 · £97,776 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) · Buy, improve & sell (pays out on sale)

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

What would you walk away with, after 5 years?The five-year sums

−£24,720 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 £97,776 you put in. The 5-year fix runs past this 5-year hold, so the rate reset comes after it.

−£97,776+£277,090−£6,927−£180,000−£17,107−£24,720

Cash you put inSale valueSelling costsMortgageRent lossesYou are down

◧ 2.0%/yr growth assumed