Most yield calculators run forwards: you type a price and see the return. Deal sourcing runs the other way — you fix the return you need and solve for the price you can pay. This calculator inverts the maths, accounting for stamp duty (which itself changes with price), your LTV and financing, void and management costs, and acquisition fees, to give a single offer ceiling for a target gross yield, net yield or cash-on-cash return. Everything is pre-tax: this is an offer-discipline tool, not an after-tax forecast — pair it with the Rental Yield and Full BTL Model calculators once an offer is agreed.
Maximum Offer Calculator
Work backwards from the return you need to the highest price you can pay. Inverts stamp duty, financing and running costs into a single, pre-tax offer ceiling for your target gross yield, net yield or cash-on-cash return.
Maximum offer price
Maximum offer price
£186,100
At that price
Deposit
£46,525
Loan amount
£139,575
Stamp duty
£10,527
All-in cash
£64,152
Monthly cash flow
£428
Annual mortgage payment
£7,677
Achieved returns
Gross yield
9.03%
Net yield
6.89%
Cash-on-cash
8.01%
your target metric
Pre-tax offer ceiling — for planning only, not advice. Run the agreed price through the Rental Yield and Full BTL Model calculators for the after-tax view.
Frequently asked questions
Answers to the questions UK property investors most often have about this tool and the underlying rules.
- How is the maximum offer price calculated?
- Each target return falls as price rises, and SDLT steps up in bands as price crosses thresholds, so there is no neat formula. The calculator searches (by bisection) for the highest purchase price at which your chosen metric still meets the target, after stamp duty, financing and running costs. Gross yield is independent of costs (annual rent ÷ price), so its ceiling is exact; net yield and cash-on-cash factor in voids, management, maintenance and the mortgage.
- Which target should I use — gross yield, net yield or cash-on-cash?
- Gross yield is a quick screening filter. Net yield (after operating costs, before finance and tax) compares properties on running quality. Cash-on-cash — annual pre-tax cash flow divided by all the cash you deploy (deposit, SDLT, fees, refurb) — is the one leveraged investors usually offer against, because it reflects the return on the money actually tied up in the deal.
- Why is the result pre-tax?
- A maximum-offer figure needs to be fast and lender/structure-agnostic, so it stops at pre-tax cash flow. Section 24 for personal landlords and corporation tax for limited companies materially change the after-tax picture — once you have an agreed price, run it through the Rental Yield calculator (which models both) and the Full BTL Investment Model for the multi-year, after-tax view.
- Does it include the stamp duty surcharge?
- Yes. Set the buyer type to additional property to apply the +5% BTL/second-home surcharge, choose Scotland or Wales for LBTT/LTT, and tick non-UK resident for the extra +2% on England & NI purchases. Because SDLT is recomputed at each candidate price, the offer ceiling already nets it off.