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A monthly ledger, not a yield sticker.

Every Orbitalevault note starts from the same lines. If a cost can leave the account in the next twelve months, it is on the ledger. Hope is not a line.

Keys, a closed notebook and a coffee cup on a walnut desk

What goes in

We separate money you spend once, money you spend because the property is occupied, and money you spend because it is empty. Mixing them is how a gross yield survives a bad purchase.

Day-one cash

Deposit, Stamp Duty Land Tax or the Scottish or Welsh equivalent, solicitor, survey, and works required before a lawful letting. Furniture for a shared house sits here if you buy it up front.

A dull year

Headline rent, then a void, arrears, agent fees, insurance, gas and electrical checks, service charge, ground rent, bills you have promised to pay, and a repairs reserve that is not zero.

Interest, named

We model interest-only because many buy-to-let loans are written that way. A repayment loan would take more cash each month. The equity you build is not spendable until you sell or remortgage.

What we leave out

Capital growth, "the area is up and coming", and the idea that you will refinance the cash back out. Those can happen. They are not cash flow. Income tax is discussed beside the ledger, not buried inside the yield.

Run a dull year yourself

The worksheet below stays in your browser. Nothing is sent to us. Stamp duty follows the England and Northern Ireland residential bands in force since 1 April 2025. Additional dwellings include the 5 percentage point surcharge that has applied since 31 October 2024. Purchases under £40,000 are outside that surcharge; this sheet assumes a normal residential price. It is an illustration, not a filing.

Buyer position Purchase price, pounds Deposit, percent Interest-only rate, percent Monthly headline rent, pounds Void, weeks in the year Management, percent of rent including VAT Other annual costs, pounds

Other annual costs in the Leeds illustration are insurance, compliance, and the repairs reserve: £1,895.00.

Result

Income tax is not deducted here. For an individual landlord, mortgage interest is not a full expense under the finance-cost restriction often called Section 24. Read that note before you treat this cash figure as money you keep.

Why the lines are in this order

Rent is not collected because a portal said it would be. We start from the rent you believe a tenant will actually pay, then we remove the weeks you will not receive it. Agent fees in England are the landlord's cost. The Tenant Fees Act 2019 stopped most fees being pushed onto the tenant, so a "10% management fee" is yours, and VAT on top of it is yours too.

Service charges and ground rent belong on leasehold ledgers even when the flat looks cheap beside a house. Bills belong on a shared-house ledger when the rooms are let inclusive. A repairs reserve is not pessimism. It is the boiler, the roof valley, and the cooker that fails in January, spread across a year so the month is not a surprise.

Interest is last among the cash lines because readers like to stop at "cash before finance" and call that profit. It is not profit, and for an individual it is not even the tax result. The Section 24 note shows a year in which the bank account and the tax return disagree.

A hand holding brass keys against yellow London brick

If you want the same sheet applied to three different buildings, the worked illustrations use this method without a hidden cell. If you want to see the Leeds terrace after a worse year, go to the stress tests.