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Refurbish and sell calculator

The profit on buying it, refurbishing it and selling it, after every cost and the tax

Most flip arithmetic is end value minus purchase minus works, and it is wrong by the two largest numbers on the job: the cost of holding it while the work happens, and the tax on the profit at the end. Both are in here, along with the purchase tax at the front, the selling costs at the back, and what happens if the finished value comes in five per cent under.

For: Buying to refurbish and sell on

Tell us what you are looking forAll calculators
The deal
£
£
Price it on the refurbishment estimator. A flip has no rental income to absorb an overrun, so this number matters more here than anywhere else on the site.
£
What a finished comparable actually sold for on the same street in the last six months, not what one is currently listed at. Listings are hope; sales are evidence.
mo
wk
Nine weeks to find a buyer and sixteen more to complete is the national picture. A finished, chain-free house sells faster than that, and this is still the part people forget to hold money for.
How you fund it
Funding
Buys speed and lets you buy something no mortgage lender would touch. It also puts a clock on the job.
%
%
The market average is 0.81%. The term has to cover the works and the sale, not just the works.
Costs
£
Legal, survey and broker. Stamp duty is calculated separately at additional property rates.
£
Council tax on an empty property, which many councils now charge a premium on after a year, plus standing charges and unoccupied buildings insurance.
%
£
Tax on the profit
Which of these applies is a question of fact, not of preference. Buying with the intention of selling on is trading, and repeated flips are taxed as income rather than as capital gains.
How will the profit be taxed?
Corporation tax at 19% up to £50,000 of profit, 25% above £250,000, with a 26.5% marginal band between. Getting the money out afterwards costs dividend tax on top.
%
Profit after every cost and the tax£21,8759.5% of the end value, and 15.9% on the £137,257 of your own money, over 12.2 months. Annualised that is 15.6%. It breaks even at a sale price of £261,710, so there is £23,290 of room between here and losing money.
£27,006Profit before tax
£5,131Tax
9.5%Margin on end value
£261,710Break-even sale price
£10,497If 5% light
Purchase58%Works19%Finance and holding7%Tax and fees8%Profit8%
Where the money goes
Purchase price£165,000
Stamp duty£9,050
Additional property rates, including the five point surcharge on the whole price. There is no relief for buying to sell on.
Buying costs£2,800
The works£55,000
Cost of the bridge£17,973
£13,363 of interest over 13 months and £4,610 of fees. Every month past the term adds £1,028.
Holding it£2,933
£240 a month for 12.2 months, which includes the time it is on the market.
Selling costs£5,237
Agent at 1.42%, conveyancing and an EPC.
Total cost£257,994
What comes back
Sale price£285,000
Profit before tax£27,006
9.5% of the end value and 10.5% on cost. Lenders and experienced developers look for 20% on end value; below 15% there is not enough room for anything to go wrong.
Tax£5,131
Corporation tax. Taking it out as a dividend afterwards costs more again.
Profit after tax£21,875
Return
Your cash in the deal£137,257
Return on that cash15.9%
Annualised15.6%
Over 12.2 months. Useful for comparing against holding something, and it assumes you can find another deal the day this one completes, which is the part nobody models.
Break-even sale price£261,710
£23,290 of room, which is 8.2% of the sale price. That is the whole cushion against the market moving, the works overrunning and the survey finding something.
If it sells 5% under
Sale price£270,750
Profit after tax£10,497
£11,379 less. A 5% move on the sale price takes 52% of the profit, because the profit is a thin slice of a large number and everything else is fixed.
Where these figures come from

Bridging. Market average 0.81% a month at Q2 2026, arrangement fee 2% of gross.

Selling. Sole agency around 1.42% including VAT, conveyancing on a sale about £929 plus an EPC. Twenty five weeks from listing to completion nationally.

Tax. Corporation tax 19% to £50,000 of profit and 25% above £250,000, with marginal relief between producing an effective 26.5%. Income tax at 20%, 40% and 45% plus Class 4 National Insurance at 6% and 2%. Capital gains at 18% and 24% with a £3,000 annual exemption.

Margin benchmarks. Development lenders generally require a projected profit of 17.5% to 20% on gross development value, and RICS uses 20% on GDV as the viability benchmark for a residential scheme.

The tax treatment is the part most flip calculators ignore and the part HMRC does not. Buying a property in order to refurbish and sell it is trading, and the profit is income rather than a capital gain: intention and frequency decide it, not what you would prefer. Doing it through a company gets a lower headline rate and adds a second charge when you take the money out. VAT on the works is standard rated on a straightforward refurbishment and is inside the works figure above; a conversion or a long-empty property may qualify for five per cent, which is a separate calculator and worth a fifth of the build. An estimate, not tax advice, and this is the calculation to take to an accountant rather than a substitute for one.

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