Your account

Rental yield calculator

Gross yield, net yield, and the money actually left after the lender is paid

Put in the price, set the rent and set every running cost to what you think it will really be. Gross yield is a marketing number: it is the rent divided by the price and it ignores the agent, the voids, the certificates, the service charge and the mortgage. The gap between it and what lands in your account is the whole point of this page.

For: A single tenancy, held personally or in a company

Tell us what you are looking forAll calculators
The property
£
Where
What it is
No service charge and no ground rent, and every repair is yours.
£
Tax, legals, survey and broker. It is not part of the price, and it is absolutely part of the money you have in the deal, so the return is measured against both.
The income
£
Typical for North West at this price is about £1,275, from regional average yields. Yours is the number that matters, and it should come from an agent rather than from a portal.
%
Kept out of the headline deliberately. It is the least reliable number on the page and the one most used to justify a deal that does not otherwise work.
Running costs
Every one of these comes out before you see a penny.
%
12% plus VAT is 14.4%, and national chains reach 20.4%. Zero if you run it yourself, which is a real job rather than a saving.
wk
Often charged separately from management, at two to four weeks' rent each time the tenant changes.
%
Five to ten per cent on a single tenancy. On an older property, and on anything with a boiler older than the tenant, more.
wk
Three to six weeks is normal. Since section 21 was abolished in May 2026 every tenancy is periodic, so tenants can leave on two months' notice at any point and voids are harder to plan.
£
Nothing on a normal single let. Council tax comes back to you during a void, which is inside the void allowance above.
£
Landlord insurance averages £285. Unoccupied cover during a long void costs more, not less.
£
Gas safety yearly, an EICR every five years, an EPC every ten, plus any selective licence the council operates. £100 to £300 a year annualised.
Finance
%
Seventy five per cent is the standard buy to let ceiling. Whether the rent actually supports it is a separate test: that is the buy to let lending calculator.
%
The market average on a buy to let is about 5.5%. Bank Rate is 3.75% and the committee has been holding, so do not model a fall.
Mortgage type
Keeps the payment down and leaves the debt exactly where it is. Standard on buy to let, and it means something has to repay the capital eventually.
Clear money left, after everything£129 a month£1,548 a year, before income tax. That is a 4.6% net yield on the price and 2.2% on the £69,000 of your own money in it. Gross yield is 7.0%, and the gap between the two is the £5,089 of running costs below. Before income tax, and mortgage interest is not deductible against it if you hold this personally.
7.0%Gross yield
4.6%Net yield
2.2%Return on cash in
-£295/moIf rates rise 2 points
Yours10%Mortgage57%Agent14%Repairs and voids16%Fixed costs3%
The income
Rent a year£15,300
In line with the region at this price.
What comes out of it
Letting agent£2,203
14.4% of rent.
Maintenance£1,224
Voids£1,177
4 weeks empty. Council tax and standing charges come back to you for every one of them.
Insurance and certificates£485
Income after running costs£10,211
A 4.6% net yield against a 7.0% gross one.
The lender
Mortgage£722 a month
£8,663 a year on a £165,000 loan at 5.25%, interest only.
Clear money left£1,548
£129 a month. This is the figure that pays for a boiler when one fails.
Return on the money you actually put in
Your cash in the deal£69,000
£55,000 of deposit and £14,000 of buying costs.
Cash on cash return2.2%
The income against the money you put in. The number to read against a savings rate, before tax on either.
Total return, including 3.0% growth11.8%
£8,148: the cash, the debt repaid, and £6,600 of assumed growth. Growth is the least reliable line on this page.
If it goes badly
Rates two points higher, voids doubled-£295 a month
It costs you money every month in that scenario. That is survivable if you know it now and plan for it, and not if you find out in month three.
The rate at which it stops paying for itself6.19%
Your rate is 5.25%, so you have 0.94% of headroom before the net income no longer covers the interest.
Where these figures come from

Costs. Full management is 12% plus VAT, which is 14.4% of rent; national chains reach 20.4%. Maintenance is commonly allowed at 5% to 10% of rent. Voids run three to six weeks a year. Landlord insurance averages £285 and certificates £100 to £300. The average service charge on a flat in England and Wales is £2,405.

Rates. The market average buy to let rate is about 5.5%. Bank Rate is 3.75%.

Regional yields. Gross yields used for the suggested rent run from about 5.2% in London to 7.5% in the North East and Scotland. They set a starting point only; the rent an agent will actually achieve on a particular street is the number to use.

Regulation. Section 21 was abolished on 1 May 2026 and all assured tenancies are now periodic, so a tenant may leave on notice at any point. That makes voids harder to plan than it used to be, not more expensive per week.

Published UK figures as at September 2026 where they exist, and every one adjustable. Before income tax, and before any refurbishment. If you hold this personally, mortgage interest is not deductible from the profit: it is relieved by a flat twenty per cent credit under Section 24, so a higher-rate taxpayer pays tax on money the lender has already taken. The personal against company question is worth real money and it has its own calculator. Growth is shown separately and kept out of the headline on purpose. An estimate, not advice, and not a rental valuation.

Next

The calculators that go with this one.

Each answers a single question, on its own page, with every figure in it yours to change.

All 30 calculators →

Room by room

Is it worth letting this by the room?

Open →

Short let

Does a short let beat a tenancy here?

Open →

Personal or company

Am I better off holding this personally or in a company?

Open →