Rented normally, you'd make about £60 a month.

Will it pay?Calculator

£60 of every £1,898 is yours to keep, each month

You keep 3p of every pound of rent. The mortgage takes 66p.

+£1,898−£1,259−£564−£14£60

Rent inMortgageRunning costsTaxProfit

Rent £1,898, modelled from 1 nearby letting

◧ market rent £1,898 · 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

£106,300 + refurb costs

£28,800 of that never comes back — stamp duty, solicitor and lender fees.

£106,300 to buy it

deposit · stamp duty · solicitor · fees~£23,310, unseen

□ works not inspected

What would have to be true?

Nothing — it works at the asking price

The rent covers the mortgage, the running costs and the tax at the £310,000 asked, so there is no discount this card has to name. A lower price would be upside, not a condition.

◧ worked back from the rent

What will the rent borrow?Lender test

The rent carries £201,379 of the £232,500 loan

That £31,121 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.

£2,107 needed

more than the £1,825 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £1,825PRA-style test

Who has to say yes?Council record

Birmingham council approves 50% — 45% on a cautious reading

A council-wide rate, not a forecast — and Birmingham council refuses schemes that sandwich a family home. Check both neighbours.

50%

0%50%100%

never approvesalways approves

the band is the cautious reading of the same 393 decisions — as low as 45%

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

How big is it, really?The plan

Room to grow 1,442 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

Birmingham, B11 3LE

2 of 5 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 18 Sep 2026

Which strategy wins?The ways to run it

Rent by the room beats Standard rental by £424 a month

Let it to the council: £4,392 a year less, but they keep paying when it is empty.

Rent by the room+£484 · £179,610 in

Standard rental+£60 · £129,610 in

Guaranteed council rent−£306 · £129,610 in

Housing-benefit rent−£638 · £129,610 in

Short-stay let−£710 · £129,610 in

52 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

−£8,177 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 £129,610 you put in. The 5-year fix runs past this 5-year hold, so the rate reset comes after it.

−£129,610+£358,994−£8,975−£232,500+£3,914−£8,177

Cash you put inSale valueSelling costsMortgageRent keptYou are down

◧ 2.0%/yr growth assumed