Is this a good buy-to-let investment?

Maintenance costs

There are various types of maintenance costs to consider.

If it is a leasehold property then there may be an annual service/maintenance charge which is intended to cover the ongoing cost of maintaining the building and grounds. It is worth checking out whether this annual fee is just intended to cover the cost of the regular small maintenance items or whether it also includes a fund intended to cover periodic larger costs such as external redecoration, and whether it includes a fund for occasional irregular costs such as roof repairs.

You should expect to spend money each time you relet a property to offset the effect of wear and tear.

You should allow for a complete redecoration every 3 to 5 years.

Any furniture or appliances provided can expect to last approximately 5 years

Carpets will need replacement every 5 to 7 years.

Bathrooms and kitchens will need replacement approximately every 10 years

Allowance should be made for irregular large costs such as reroofing and window replacement.

As a rough rule of thumb, allow 2% of the value fo the propert for mainetanance each year. Obviously this varies greatly according to whether it is a new or old property and what your target tenants are - corporate let expecting everything immaculate or low-end studios where almost anything goes.