Rented normally, it costs you £116 a month. That is £1,396 a year, every year you hold it.

Will it pay?Calculator

You top up £116 a month — the mortgage takes 59p of every pound of rent

Borrowing £21,483 less would close that shortfall — which is £21,483 more cash at the start, on top of the deposit.

+£1,508−£894−£731−£116

Rent inMortgageRunning costsShort by

The rent covers £1,508 of that — you cover £116

□ 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-£116/mo

All-in cash£86,650

PaybackNever

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

£74,200 + refurb costs

And about £6,982 more over five years, because it loses £116 every month you hold it — before any repair. That already assumes the rent never falls.

£74,200 to buy it

deposit · stamp duty · solicitor · fees~£12,450, unseen

□ works not inspected

What would have to be true?The working

£25,000 off and it stops losing money

At the asking price you feed it £116 a month. At £191,340 the rent covers everything — leaving stamp duty of £10,894 at that price.

offer £191,340

asked £220,000

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

Is the price right?The deeds

Last sold for £83,000 in 2017

Nothing nearby is comparable, but asking is 165% more than the £83,000 paid for it in 2017.

□ 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.

+29 more

our bar: 10 within 500 m

our own middle half£1,419–£1,603/mo

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

What will the rent borrow?Lender test

The rent carries £160,000 of the £165,000 loan

That £5,000 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 rent carries the whole loan. Lenders test the rent at 7.5% and need it to cover 145% of the payment.

£1,495 needed

more than the £1,450 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £1,450PRA-style test

Who has to say yes?Council record

Liverpool council approves 60% — 54% on a cautious reading

A council-wide rate across 237 HMO decisions, not a forecast for this address.

60%

0%50%100%

never approvesalways approves

the band is the cautious reading of the same 237 decisions — as low as 54%

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

How big is it, really?The plan

The plan and the advert, side by side 595 sq ft

Two figures for this house, and neither is a survey. Open for both.

AdvertFloorplan

548 sq ft689 sq ft830 sq ft

548 sq ft830 sq ft

neither is a survey — a tape measure settles it

□ area off the floorplan — not a survey

Is it a good location?Open the map

City Centre, L3 4DR

No schools in this postcode area 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

£2,400 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.

4 problems found · 1 came back clear · 4 we could not check

■ from the listinglisting last seen 18 Sep 2026

Which strategy wins?The ways to run it

Short-stay let beats Standard rental by £486 a month

Let it to the council: £7,104 a year less, but they keep paying when it is empty.

Short-stay let+£370 · £86,650 in

7 nearby short-lets within 5.5 km · medium confidence

Standard rental−£116 · £86,650 in

Rent by the room−£210 · £112,650 in

Guaranteed council rent−£708 · £86,650 in

Housing-benefit rent−£852 · £86,650 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

−£13,677 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 26% in the price would leave nothing from a sale after selling costs, and you would still owe the lender any shortfall. That is the £86,650 you put in. The 5-year fix runs past this 5-year hold, so the rate reset comes after it.

−£86,650+£251,833−£6,296−£165,000−£7,563−£13,677

Cash you put inSale valueSelling costsMortgageRent lossesYou are down

◧ 2.0%/yr growth assumed