Rented normally, you'd make about £158 a month.

What could kill thisThe checks

It is sold as a lifetime lease, not on ordinary terms

This is not an ordinary purchase, so none of the figures on this page describe it.

2 problems found · 6 we could not check · 1 does not apply to this property

■ from the listinglisting last seen 19 Sep 2026

Will it pay?Calculator

£158 of every £2,200 is yours to keep, each month

You keep 7p of every pound of rent. The mortgage takes 63p.

+£2,200−£1,383−£622−£37£158

Rent inMortgageRunning costsTaxProfit

Rent £2,200, modelled from 4 nearby lettings

◧ market rent £2,200 · 4 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

£117,433 + refurb costs

£32,308 of that never comes back — stamp duty, solicitor and lender fees.

£117,433 to buy it

deposit · stamp duty · solicitor · fees~£23,506, unseen

□ works not inspected

What would have to be true?

No recorded basis for the rent to work from

Every price on this card is that rent inverted, and this row records no basis for its rent — not that the rent is wrong, but that we cannot show it was measured against nearby lettings. A price quoted to the £5,000 needs evidence we can point at.

□ rent basis not recorded

What will the rent borrow?Lender test

The rent carries £233,422 of the £255,375 loan

That £21,953 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.

£2,314 needed

more than the £2,115 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £2,115PRA-style test

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

Romford, RM6 4XU

1 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 4Not assessed for this address

■ postcode area, not this address

Which strategy wins?The ways to run it

Nothing here beats a plain let

Let it to the council: £2,976 a year less, but they keep paying when it is empty.

Standard rental+£158 · £140,939 in

Guaranteed council rent−£90 · £140,939 in

Housing-benefit rent−£472 · £140,939 in

Rent by the room−£794 · £140,939 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

−£3,063 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 £140,939 you put in. The 5-year fix runs past this 5-year hold, so the rate reset comes after it.

−£140,939+£392,809−£9,820−£255,375+£10,263−£3,063

Cash you put inSale valueSelling costsMortgageRent keptYou are down

◧ 2.0%/yr growth assumed