Rented normally, it costs you £215 a month. That is £2,580 a year, every year you hold it.

Will it pay?Calculator

You top up £215 a month — the mortgage takes 79p of every pound of rent

Borrowing £39,690 less would close that shortfall — which is £39,690 more cash at the start, on top of the deposit.

+£593−£467−£341−£215

Rent inMortgageRunning costsShort by

The rent covers £593 of that — you cover £215

◧ market rent £593 · 88 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

£38,925 + refurb costs

And about £12,899 more over five years, because it loses £215 every month you hold it — before any repair. That already assumes the rent never falls.

£38,925 to buy it

~£20,390

deposit · stamp duty · solicitor · feeswe haven’t been inside

□ works not inspected

What would have to be true?The search

No offer makes this pay

Even at £69,000 — well below the £115,000 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 £69,000

What will the rent borrow?Lender test

The rent carries £62,918 of the £86,250 loan

That £23,332 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 £13,265. Lenders test the rent at 7.5% and need it to cover 145% of the payment.

£782 needed

more than the £570 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £570PRA-style test

Is it a good location?Open the map

Carlisle, CA5 6JX

2 of 4 schools in this postcode area rated Good or Outstanding and flood risk checking… — open for the map, the schools and the rest.

Article 4Not assessed for this address

■ postcode area, not this address

What could kill thisThe checks

The property is being sold at auction, so the price shown is a guide, not what it will cost

Every figure on this page is worked from that price, so paying more than it cuts the return.

2 problems found · 5 we could not check · 2 do not apply to this property

■ from the listinglisting last seen 19 Sep 2026

Which strategy wins?The ways to run it

Every way loses money — Standard rental loses least, at £215 a month

Standard rental also ties up the least cash, £59,315.

Standard rental−£215 · £59,315 in

Housing-benefit rent−£404 · £59,315 in

Each row: money kept a month, then the cash it ties up. Not compared: Rent by the room (only 1 bedroom) · 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

−£21,476 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 31% in the price would leave nothing from a sale after selling costs, and you would still owe the lender any shortfall. That is the £59,315 you put in. The 5-year fix runs past this 5-year hold, so the rate reset comes after it.

−£59,315+£141,602−£3,540−£86,250−£13,973−£21,476

Cash you put inSale valueSelling costsMortgageRent lossesYou are down

◧ 2.0%/yr growth assumed