Rented normally, it costs you £17 a month. That is £199 a year, every year you hold it.

Will it pay?Calculator

You top up £17 a month — the mortgage takes 72p of every pound of rent

Borrowing £3,055 less would close that shortfall — which is £3,055 more cash at the start, on top of the deposit.

+£2,541−£1,828−£729−£17

Rent inMortgageRunning costsShort by

The rent covers £2,541 of that — you cover £17

◧ market rent £2,541 · 20 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

£157,400 + refurb costs

And about £993 more over five years, because it loses £17 every month you hold it — before any repair. That already assumes the rent never falls.

£157,400 to buy it

deposit · stamp duty · solicitor · fees~£1,725, unseen

□ works not inspected

What would have to be true?

Break-even is within £5,000 of the asked price

It lands that close to the £450,000 asked — inside the step this card rounds to, and inside the confidence band on the rent it works back from. So the price asked is already about the price this rent carries, and there is no honest discount to print.

◧ worked back from the rent

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.

+10 more

our bar: 10 within 500 m

our own middle half£2,387–£2,705/mo

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

What will the rent borrow?Lender test

The rent carries £269,602 of the £337,500 loan

That £67,898 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 £24,762. Lenders test the rent at 7.5% and need it to cover 145% of the payment.

£3,059 needed

more than the £2,443 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £2,443PRA-style test

Who has to say yes?Council record

Bristol, City of approves 78% — 74% on a cautious reading

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

78%

0%50%100%

never approvesalways approves

the band is the cautious reading of the same 409 decisions — as low as 74%

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

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

Bristol, BS7 0JT

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 4Planning permission required to let by the room

■ 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.

3 problems found · 1 came back clear · 4 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

Every way loses money — Standard rental loses least, at £17 a month

Let it to the council: £1,836 a year less, but they keep paying when it is empty.

Standard rental−£17 · £159,125 in

Guaranteed council rent−£170 · £159,125 in

Rent by the room−£252 · £193,125 in

Housing-benefit rent−£690 · £159,125 in

Short-stay let−£1,470 · £159,125 in

23 nearby short-lets within 5.5 km · low confidence

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

−£12,078 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 £159,125 you put in. The 5-year fix runs past this 5-year hold, so the rate reset comes after it.

−£159,125+£498,074−£12,452−£337,500−£1,076−£12,078

Cash you put inSale valueSelling costsMortgageRent lossesYou are down

◧ 2.0%/yr growth assumed