Rented normally, it costs you £627 a month. That is £7,527 a year, every year you hold it.

Will it pay?Calculator

You top up £627 a month — the mortgage takes 89p of every pound of rent

Borrowing £115,795 less would close that shortfall — which is £115,795 more cash at the start, on top of the deposit.

+£1,228−£1,097−£758−£627

Rent inMortgageRunning costsShort by

The rent covers £1,228 of that — you cover £627

◧ market rent £1,228 · 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

£92,075 + refurb costs

And about £37,633 more over five years, because it loses £627 every month you hold it — before any repair. That already assumes the rent never falls.

£92,075 to buy it

deposit · stamp duty · solicitor · fees~£16,790, unseen

□ works not inspected

What would have to be true?The search

No offer makes this pay

Even at £162,000 — well below the £270,000 asked — the rent still does not cover the costs. The gap is the rent against the running costs, not the price, so negotiating does not close it.

◧ worked back from the rent■ stamp duty re-bandedtested down to £162,000

Can we trust the rent?Rent evidence

Too few nearby letting behind this rent

Read the rent as a floor to beat, not a target.

our bar: 10 within 500 m

our own middle half£1,044–£1,444/mo

■ 1 letting within 1 km□ too thin to price onAdvertised rents, not signed tenancies

What will the rent borrow?Lender test

The rent carries £130,292 of the £202,500 loan

That £72,208 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 £51,362. Lenders test the rent at 7.5% and need it to cover 145% of the payment.

£1,835 needed

more than the £1,181 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £1,181PRA-style test

Who has to say yes?Council record

Sheffield council approves 87% — 81% on a cautious reading

A council-wide rate across 168 HMO decisions, not a forecast for this address.

87%

0%50%100%

never approvesalways approves

the band is the cautious reading of the same 168 decisions — as low as 81%

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

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

No school rated Good or better in this postcode area

3 schools 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

£3,838 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.

3 problems found · 3 came back clear · 3 we could not check

■ from the listinglisting last seen 17 Sep 2026

Which strategy wins?The ways to run it

Every way loses money — Rent by the room loses least, at £604 a month

Let it to the council: £3,360 a year less, but they keep paying when it is empty.

Rent by the room−£604 · £134,865 in

Standard rental−£627 · £108,865 in

Guaranteed council rent−£907 · £108,865 in

Housing-benefit rent−£1,121 · £108,865 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

−£49,734 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 £108,865 you put in. The 5-year fix runs past this 5-year hold, so the rate reset comes after it.

−£108,865+£310,151−£7,754−£202,500−£40,767−£49,734

Cash you put inSale valueSelling costsMortgageRent lossesYou are down

◧ 2.0%/yr growth assumed