Rented normally, you'd make about £149 a month.

Will it pay?Calculator

£149 of every £1,411 is yours to keep, each month

You keep 11p of every pound of rent. The mortgage takes 43p.

+£1,411−£609−£617−£35£149

Rent inMortgageRunning costsTaxProfit

Rent £1,411, modelled from 12 nearby lettings

□ 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

Try your own numbersLive

You keep£149/mo

All-in cash£65,861

Payback36.8 yrs

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

£50,750 + refurb costs

£13,250 of that never comes back — stamp duty, solicitor and lender fees.

£50,750 to buy it

~£15,111

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

□ works not inspected

What would have to be true?

Nothing — it works at the asking price

The rent covers the mortgage, the running costs and the tax at the £150,000 asked, so there is no discount this card has to name. A lower price would be upside, not a condition.

◧ worked back from the rent

Is the price right?Comparables

Nothing nearby is comparable — but it is 15% over its 2020 price

The dearest sold for 4.2× the cheapest, so the rent has to justify this price on its own.

you'd pay £150,000

£84,000

£89,000

£94,000

£144,000

£162,500

£165,000

£170,000

£170,359

£230,000

£250,000

£320,000

£350,000

£84k£217k£350k

£84,000 cheapest£350,000 dearest

12 completed sales, same property type, last 3 years

□ 12 sold nearby, not matched on sizeHM Land Registry Price Paid Data

What will the rent borrow?Lender test

The rent carries the whole loan — it could fall 25% 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.

£1,020 needed

of £1,357 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £1,357PRA-style test

Who has to say yes?Council record

Portsmouth council approves 84% — 80% on a cautious reading

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

84%

0%50%100%

never approvesalways approves

the band is the cautious reading of the same 599 decisions — as low as 80%

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

How big is it, really?The plan

Measured off the plan, not by a surveyor 780 sq ft

The area comes off the plan, not a survey. Open for what that means.

□ area off the floorplan — not a survey

Is it a good location?Open the map

Portsmouth, PO1 5HH

1 of 3 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 council here has taken away the automatic right to rent this out by the room

You would have to apply for permission first, and the council can say no.

2 problems found · 2 came back clear · 5 we could not check

■ from the Article 4 maplisting last seen 16 Sep 2026

Which strategy wins?The ways to run it

Rent by the room beats Short-stay let by £111 a month

Your controls are set to Standard rental — £185 a month behind Rent by the room.

Rent by the room+£334 · £91,861 in

Short-stay let+£223 · £65,861 in

3 nearby short-lets within 11.1 km · low confidence

Standard rental+£149 · £65,861 in

Guaranteed council rent+£55 · £65,861 in

Housing-benefit rent−£215 · £65,861 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

+£3,385 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 £65,861 you put in. The 5-year fix runs past this 5-year hold, so the rate reset comes after it.

−£65,861+£176,457−£4,411−£112,500+£9,700+£3,385

Cash you put inSale valueSelling costsMortgageRent keptYou walk with

◧ 2.0%/yr growth assumed