HMO yield calculator

1. Enter annual rent (preferably achieved after a void allowance).
2. Choose whether rents are bills-inclusive and adjust if you are comparing rent-only peers.
3. Enter the operating costs you want inside “net” (management, licence, insurance, certificates, maintenance, voids — be consistent).
4. Enter price or a labelled current-value basis.
5. Read gross and net results; run sensitivities.

Definitions: yield explained. Rent inputs: per-room rents.

• You supply truthful inputs; the calculator does not scrape market rents.
• Finance costs are included in net only if you put them in.
• Licence and legal compliance are assumed outside the maths (HMO licensing guide).
• One scenario at a time — save your own dated notes.

• Not a RICS valuation or mortgage assessment (fee ranges).
• Will not tell you whether to buy, sell or refinance.
• Ignores tax unless you manually include tax in costs (we do not give tax advice).
• Local yield “norms” are not hard-coded as facts.

Rent R, costs C, price P → gross ≈ R÷P, net ≈ (R−C)÷P. Label every term. Pair with valuation calculator and HMO price per room.

Buyers distrust untethered yield claims. Take the same schedule to request a valuation and to going-concern marketing (selling as a going concern). Methods: Bricks-and-mortar vs investment HMO valuation. Worth: What is my HMO worth.

Start with monthly room rents in a spreadsheet, annualise, then subtract a void allowance before pasting into the tool. If rents are bills-inclusive, either strip estimated bills for peer comparison or keep them in and label every peer the same way — mixing bases invents fake yield gaps (HMO rent per room).

Add management percentage or flat fee, annualised licence cost, insurance suited to HMO use, certificate budget, and a maintenance reserve. Decide explicitly whether interest sits inside net. Save two scenarios: operating net before finance, and after finance if you personally want that view — do not treat both as if they were the same definition.

The calculator assumes your room count is lettable and lawful. It does not read your licence PDF. It assumes costs are annual steady-state, not a one-off refurb. It assumes the price basis is the one you typed — switch asking to offer and the yield changes.

No tax modelling. No SDLT. No guarantee of buyer demand. No RICS standing. National “good yield” benchmarks are not embedded as facts because they mislead across cities. For sale use, attach the input sheet to your pack (HMO sale documents checklist).

Bump voids by two weeks; cut one room’s rent to the last signed tenancy; add 10% management if you currently self-manage and a buyer will not. If yield only looks attractive on the softest case, price the house for the harder case. Valuation follow-up: HMO valuations · methods Bricks-and-mortar vs investment HMO valuation.