Rented normally, it costs you £13 a month. That is £152 a year, every year you hold it.

Will it pay?Calculator

You top up £13 a month — the mortgage takes 56p of every pound of rent

Borrowing £2,334 less would close that shortfall — which is £2,334 more cash at the start, on top of the deposit.

+£1,081−£609−£484−£13

Rent inMortgageRunning costsShort by

The rent covers £1,081 of that — you cover £13

□ 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

£50,750 + refurb costs

And about £759 more over five years, because it loses £13 every month you hold it — before any repair. That already assumes the rent never falls.

£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?

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

It lands that close to the £150,000 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

Is the price right?The deeds

Last sold for £159,995 in 2007

Nothing nearby is comparable, but asking is 6% less than the £159,995 paid for it in 2007.

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

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£1,004–£1,164/mo

■ 20 lettings within 1 km□ no nearby asks to cross-checkAdvertised rents, not signed tenancies

What will the rent borrow?Lender test

The rent carries the whole loan — it could fall 2% 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 £1,039 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £1,039PRA-style test

Who has to say yes?Council record

Nottingham council approves 67% — 60% on a cautious reading

A council-wide rate across 202 HMO decisions, not a forecast for this address.

67%

0%50%100%

never approvesalways approves

the band is the cautious reading of the same 202 decisions — as low as 60%

■ 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 675 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

No school rated Good or better in this postcode area

1 school in this postcode area, none rated Good or better 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 19 Sep 2026

Which strategy wins?The ways to run it

Rent by the room beats Standard rental by £257 a month

Let it to the council: £1,896 a year less, but they keep paying when it is empty.

Rent by the room+£244 · £91,861 in

Standard rental−£13 · £65,861 in

Guaranteed council rent−£171 · £65,861 in

Housing-benefit rent−£333 · £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) · Short-stay let (no local short-let data) · 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

−£7,138 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−£822−£7,138

Cash you put inSale valueSelling costsMortgageRent lossesYou are down

◧ 2.0%/yr growth assumed