Co-Living Investment Calculator

Co-living calculator measures yield from rented-by-room properties (HMOs, co-living spaces). Rent per room × room count vs single tenancy: 5-bed HMO at 600/room = 3,000/month vs 2,000 single tenancy = 50% rent uplift. After higher costs (utilities included, more management): 8-15% net yield typical vs 4-6% standard BTL.

Example: 400k 5-bed property, 5 rooms × 600/month = 3,000 gross monthly. After all costs (utilities 400, maintenance 200, management 12% = 360): net 2,040/month, 24,480/year. Net yield = 6.1% vs typical 3-5% BTL. Co-living delivers higher returns but with more management complexity and regulatory burden.

Co-living regulation: HMO licence required (5+ tenants from 2+ households in some councils). Article 4 directions in some areas restrict new HMOs. Higher EPC requirements. Mandatory amenity standards (kitchens, bathrooms per ratio of tenants). Insurance more expensive. Tenant turnover higher (individual rooms = more frequent vacancies). Best for hands-on investors in university towns or co-living-friendly cities.

A worked example

Try the defaults: property price of 400,000, number of rooms of 5, monthly rent per room of 600, total monthly costs of 960. The tool returns 6.12%. You can adjust any input and the result updates as you type — no submit button, no reload. That's the real power here: seeing how sensitive the output is to one or two assumptions.

What moves the number most

The result responds to Property Price, Number of Rooms, Monthly Rent Per Room, and Total Monthly Costs. The rate and the time horizon usually dominate — compounding means a small change in either reshapes the final figure more than a similar shift in contribution size. Test this by doubling one input at a time.

The formula behind this

Net annual income / property price × 100. Higher yields than standard BTL but more management. Everything the calculator does is shown in the formula box below, so you can check the math against your own spreadsheet if you want.

Using this well

What this doesn't capture

Steady-rate math ignores real-world volatility. Actual returns are lumpy; sequence-of-returns risk matters most in drawdown; fees and taxes drag on compound growth; and behaviour changes in drawdowns can reduce outcomes below the projection. The number represents one scenario rather than a forecast.