Rent-to-Rent Calculator
Monthly profit, ROI and payback period on an R2R deal.
Computed on our server — the formula isn’t in this page’s source.
Rent-to-rent is the one strategy that starts without a deposit: you agree a fixed rent with the owner, let the property on at a higher total, and keep the difference. It is a business rather than an asset, and the margin is thinner than the headline suggests once bills, management and the setup cost are counted. This prices all three.
What this calculator works out
- Monthly profit after the rent you owe the landlord, the bills you carry and the cost of managing it.
- Return on the money you actually put in to start — furnishing, deposits, compliance and marketing.
- Payback period in months: how long before the setup cost is recovered and the agreement starts paying you.
A worked example
Agree £900 a month with the owner, let the rooms for £2,200, carry £300 of bills and £150 of management. That is £850 a month of profit against a £4,000 setup, so the setup is recovered in under five months and the annual return on that capital is high. The risk is the other side of the same coin: the rent to the landlord is due whether the rooms are full or not.
Common questions
What is rent-to-rent?
You take a property on a fixed rent from its owner, then let it out — usually room by room — for more than you pay. You keep the difference and carry the running costs. You never own the property, so there is no deposit and no mortgage, and equally no capital growth and nothing to sell at the end.
Is rent-to-rent legal in the UK?
Yes, when it is done properly, and the "properly" is load-bearing. You need the owner’s written permission to sub-let, an agreement that actually permits what you intend to do, and compliance with everything a landlord must do — tenancy deposits protected, gas and electrical safety, right to rent checks, and an HMO licence in the correct name if the property needs one. Doing it on a standard tenancy without the owner’s consent is a breach of that tenancy and can also leave you personally liable for licensing offences.
How much can you realistically make from one rent-to-rent?
Several hundred pounds a month per property is a realistic range, not several thousand. The calculator shows why: the gap between what you pay the owner and what the rooms produce has to cover bills, management, voids and wear before any of it is yours. Deals producing very large margins usually turn out to be understating the bills or the void risk.
What is the biggest risk?
Voids, because the rent to the owner is fixed and due whether the rooms are let or not. A single empty room for a few months can wipe out a year of margin, and an empty property is a monthly loss with no asset behind it to sell. Model it at less than full occupancy before you sign anything.
Is rent-to-rent a good way to start with no money?
It is the only strategy on this site that genuinely starts without a deposit, and for someone with time and organisational skill it can build capital toward a first purchase. Be clear about what you are buying, though: an income stream with obligations, not an asset. It stops the day the agreement ends, and it does not appreciate.
Related tools and services
Worth running the same deal through the Buy-to-Let Calculator and the HMO Calculator before you commit to a strategy — the same building can look very different under each, and the gap between them is usually the real decision. The rest are in the calculator library.
If the numbers work and the property is in Liverpool or the Wirral, we run it for a living: see HMO and BTL management for a property you already own, or investment sourcing if you are still looking for the right one.
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