Rented normally, it costs you £10 a month. That is £119 a year, every year you hold it.

Will it pay?Calculator

You top up £10 a month — the mortgage takes 75p of every pound of rent

Borrowing £1,831 less would close that shortfall — which is £1,831 more cash at the start, on top of the deposit.

+£3,791−£2,844−£957−£10

Rent inMortgageRunning costsShort by

The rent covers £3,791 of that — you cover £10

◧ market rent £3,791 · 1 comp2 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

£249,400 + refurb costs

And about £595 more over five years, because it loses £10 every month you hold it — before any repair. That already assumes the rent never falls.

£249,400 to buy it

deposit · stamp duty · solicitor · fees~£2,100, 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 £700,000 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

What will the rent borrow?Lender test

The rent carries £402,228 of the £525,000 loan

That £122,772 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 £58,415. Lenders test the rent at 7.5% and need it to cover 145% of the payment.

£4,758 needed

more than the £3,645 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £3,645PRA-style test

Who has to say yes?Council record

Enfield council approves 66% — 63% on a cautious reading

A council-wide rate across 751 HMO decisions, not a forecast for this address.

66%

0%50%100%

never approvesalways approves

the band is the cautious reading of the same 751 decisions — as low as 63%

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

How big is it, really?The plan

Room to grow 1,789 sq ft

Only the agent’s figure exists for this house. Open for what that means.

□ area unchecked — agent’s own

Is it a good location?Open the map

Enfield, EN1 2RW

1 of 2 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 · 2 came back clear · 3 we could not check · 1 does not apply to this property

■ from council licensing registerlisting last seen 16 Sep 2026

Which strategy wins?The ways to run it

Every way loses money — Standard rental loses least, at £10 a month

Let it to the council: £10,344 a year less, but they keep paying when it is empty.

Standard rental−£10 · £251,500 in

Rent by the room−£547 · £310,516 in

Guaranteed council rent−£872 · £251,500 in

Housing-benefit rent−£1,429 · £251,500 in

Short-stay let−£2,824 · £251,500 in

3 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

−£22,140 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 £251,500 you put in. The 5-year fix runs past this 5-year hold, so the rate reset comes after it.

−£251,500+£774,364−£19,359−£525,000−£645−£22,140

Cash you put inSale valueSelling costsMortgageRent lossesYou are down

◧ 2.0%/yr growth assumed

Could you let it by the room?Room by room

−£547 to +£34 a month at 6 rooms two models disagree, before tax, once converted

The floorplan supports 6 lettable rooms and £19,116 of work gets you there — but the two ways this page prices them do not agree on whether they pay.

Room-add modelSite's engine

-£779-£256£266

-£779£266

the £581 gap between them is tax

◧ room-add model · medium confidence□ no district room benchmarkDwelfy’s room-add model, before tax