Rented normally, you'd make about £2 a month.

Will it pay?Calculator

£2 of every £766 is yours to keep, each month

You keep under 1p of every pound of rent. The mortgage takes 37p.

+£766−£284−£479−£0£2

Rent inMortgageRunning costsTaxProfit

Rent £766, modelled from 14 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

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

£25,050 + refurb costs

£7,550 of that never comes back — stamp duty, solicitor and lender fees.

£25,050 to buy it

~£7,487

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 £70,000 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?The deeds

Last sold for £74,950 in 2003

Nothing nearby is comparable, but asking is 7% less than the £74,950 paid for it in 2003.

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

What will the rent borrow?Lender test

The rent carries the whole loan — it could fall 35% 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.

£476 needed

of £737 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £737PRA-style test

How big is it, really?The plan

One figure, and nothing checking it 431 sq ft

The advert and the survey disagree — open for both figures and the gap.

■ area measured on site

Is it a good location?Open the map

Wolverhampton, WV1 2NP

1 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

£1,344 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.

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

■ from the listinglisting last seen 17 Sep 2026

Which strategy wins?The ways to run it

Short-stay let beats Standard rental by £325 a month

Let it to the council: £1,188 a year less, but they keep paying when it is empty.

Short-stay let+£327 · £32,537 in

10 nearby short-lets within 20 km · medium confidence

Standard rental+£2 · £32,537 in

Guaranteed council rent−£97 · £32,537 in

Housing-benefit rent−£254 · £32,537 in

Each row: money kept a month, then the cash it ties up. Not compared: Rent by the room (only 1 bedroom) · 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, after 5 years?The five-year sums

−£4,327 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 £32,537 you put in. The 5-year fix runs past this 5-year hold, so the rate reset comes after it.

−£32,537+£82,659−£2,066−£52,500+£117−£4,327

Cash you put inSale valueSelling costsMortgageRent keptYou are down

◧ 2.0%/yr growth assumed