Rented normally, it costs you £28 a month. That is £337 a year, every year you hold it.

Will it pay?Calculator

You top up £28 a month — the mortgage takes 63p of every pound of rent

Borrowing £5,191 less would close that shortfall — which is £5,191 more cash at the start, on top of the deposit.

+£838−£528−£338−£28

Rent inMortgageRunning costsShort by

The rent covers £838 of that — you cover £28

◧ market rent £838 · 53 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

£43,749 + refurb costs

And about £1,687 more over five years, because it loses £28 every month you hold it — before any repair. That already assumes the rent never falls.

£43,749 to buy it

~£15,951

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

□ works not inspected

What would have to be true?The working

£5,000 off and it stops losing money

At the asking price you feed it £28 a month. At £123,064 the rent covers everything — leaving stamp duty of £6,153 at that price.

offer £123,064

asked £129,995

◧ 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 £103,000 in 2021

Nothing nearby is comparable, but asking is 26% more than the £103,000 paid for it in 2021.

□ this address’s own deeds, no comparable saleHM Land Registry Price Paid Data

What will the rent borrow?Lender test

The rent carries £88,912 of the £97,496 loan

That £8,584 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.

£884 needed

more than the £806 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £806PRA-style test

Who has to say yes?Council record

Sunderland council approves 70% — 40% on a cautious reading

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

70%

0%50%100%

never approvesalways approves

the band is the cautious reading of the same 10 decisions — as low as 40%

■ 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

The council here has taken away the automatic right to rent this out by the room

You would have to apply for permission first, and the council can say no.

2 problems found · 1 came back clear · 5 we could not check · 1 does not apply to this property

■ from the Article 4 maplisting last seen 19 Sep 2026

Which strategy wins?The ways to run it

Rent by the room beats Standard rental by £237 a month

Let it to the council: £1,080 a year less, but they keep paying when it is empty.

Rent by the room+£209 · £85,700 in

Standard rental−£28 · £59,700 in

Guaranteed council rent−£118 · £59,700 in

Housing-benefit rent−£301 · £59,700 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

−£7,926 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 29% in the price would leave nothing from a sale after selling costs, and you would still owe the lender any shortfall. That is the £59,700 you put in. The 5-year fix runs past this 5-year hold, so the rate reset comes after it.

−£59,700+£154,972−£3,874−£97,496−£1,828−£7,926

Cash you put inSale valueSelling costsMortgageRent lossesYou are down

◧ 2.0%/yr growth assumed