Rented normally, it costs you £132 a month. That is £1,578 a year, every year you hold it.

Will it pay?Calculator

You top up £132 a month — the mortgage takes 73p of every pound of rent

Borrowing £24,277 less would close that shortfall — which is £24,277 more cash at the start, on top of the deposit.

+£782−£569−£345−£132

Rent inMortgageRunning costsShort by

The rent covers £782 of that — you cover £132

◧ market rent £782 · 7 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

£47,100 + refurb costs

And about £7,890 more over five years, because it loses £132 every month you hold it — before any repair. That already assumes the rent never falls.

£47,100 to buy it

deposit · stamp duty · solicitor · fees~£10,764, unseen

□ works not inspected

What would have to be true?The working

£30,000 off and it stops losing money

At the asking price you feed it £132 a month. At £107,625 the rent covers everything — leaving stamp duty of £5,381 at that price.

offer £107,625

asked £140,000

◧ worked back from the rent■ stamp duty re-bandedrounded down to £5,000 — the rent it works back from is an estimate

What will the rent borrow?Lender test

The rent carries £82,971 of the £105,000 loan

That £22,029 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 £8,754. Lenders test the rent at 7.5% and need it to cover 145% of the payment.

£952 needed

more than the £752 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £752PRA-style test

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

Hull, HU8 8JL

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 area is mapped as high flood risk

Flood maps cover areas, not buildings — treat it as a reason to search, not a verdict.

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

■ from the flood maplisting last seen 28 Aug 2026

Which strategy wins?The ways to run it

Every way loses money — Standard rental loses least, at £132 a month

Standard rental also ties up the least cash, £57,864.

Standard rental−£132 · £57,864 in

Housing-benefit rent−£415 · £57,864 in

Each row: money kept a month, then the cash it ties up. Not compared: Rent by the room (only 2 bedrooms) · Do it up, then remortgage (pays back at the remortgage) · Short-stay let (no local short-let data) · Guaranteed council rent (no scheme in this borough) · Buy, improve & sell (pays out on sale)

◧ 2 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

−£13,172 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 27% in the price would leave nothing from a sale after selling costs, and you would still owe the lender any shortfall. That is the £57,864 you put in. The 5-year fix runs past this 5-year hold, so the rate reset comes after it.

−£57,864+£162,296−£4,057−£105,000−£8,547−£13,172

Cash you put inSale valueSelling costsMortgageRent lossesYou are down

◧ 2.0%/yr growth assumed