"What happens if things go wrong?" is a genuinely different question from "should I buy this property?" This tool answers the first one: enter your property's current numbers, tick the scenarios you want to stress-test, alone or combined, and see exactly how much your cash flow would actually move.
Methodology and assumptions
The current position uses a standard repayment mortgage calculation from your balance, rate and term. Each selected scenario adjusts one part of that picture: a rate rise recalculates the monthly mortgage payment at the new rate over the same remaining term; a rent reduction lowers monthly income by the percentage entered; a void period removes that many months of rent entirely for the year; an unexpected repair is spread across the year as a one-off annual cost; higher management costs and increased insurance adjust those specific annual figures. Selected scenarios combine additively, each one is applied on top of the others, not modelled as mutually exclusive alternatives. All figures are estimates, not tax-adjusted, and don't account for how a lender, insurer, or tenant might actually respond in a real version of these scenarios.
This tool is designed to answer "what happens if", not "will this happen" or "should I buy this property". It doesn't provide investment recommendations, regulated financial advice, tax advice, or mortgage recommendations. Consider discussing your specific circumstances, and how you'd genuinely respond to any of these scenarios, with an appropriately qualified professional.
Frequently asked questions
What does a rental property stress test actually show?
It shows how a property's monthly and annual cash flow would change under one or more adverse scenarios you select, a rate rise, a rent cut, a void period, an unexpected repair, or higher running costs, compared against its current position. The point is to see the effect of things going wrong, not to predict whether they will.
Can I combine more than one stress scenario at once?
Yes. Each scenario has its own checkbox, and you can select any combination, a rate rise together with a void period, for example, to see the compounded effect rather than each risk considered in isolation.
Is this the same as the Portfolio Expansion Planner's stress test?
No. The Portfolio Expansion Planner tests whether a portfolio's aggregate rental income would satisfy a lender's serviceability calculation before approving a fourth or further mortgaged property. This tool tests a single property's own cash flow against practical adverse scenarios, an entirely different question.
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