PropLens · Prospect Lodge, 7 Mayne Road, Elgin, IV30 1NY

Single-let bid anchor. This is the conservative lens, defensible to a vendor's surveyor and the basis on which a lender will lend. The operator-case (multi-let) upside lens is in multilet.html.

Offer range · Income hold (single-let, vacant)

£250,000

Asking

Step down −£155,000 · −62% to reach 15% cash-on-cash

£95,000

TargetUpper end · 15% c-on-c hurdle

vs asking

−62%

Step down −£20,000 · −21% to reach 20% cash-on-cash floor

£75,000

Lower end · 20% c-on-c floor

vs asking

−70%

Range £75,000 – £95,000 Bid band · Vendor reset vendor reset territory

Asking £250,000 sits about 160% above the single-let methodology upper end (£95,000); on a conventional letting basis the building does not pencil as an investment near the asking price. The gap reflects owner-occupier and residential-reversion value, not rental income.

Computed loan is £71,500, below typical mainstream commercial mortgage minimums (£100k–£150k). The lender ratios are shown against a notional loan.

Stabilised income

£20,000/ yr NOI

£20,000 ERV − £0 op. costs → NOI

Vacant; ERV from comparable lease evidence (Elgin office proxy ~£10/sqft × Fair). No contracted rent.

Cost to stabilise

£64,000one-off refurb

Light £25/sqft cosmetic refresh × ~2,566 NIA (cellular, no subdivision)

Funded with the purchase — already in equity required on the explorer.

Offer explorer

Your offer

£95,000

Equity required

£0

Lender lends £71,500 against VP £110,000

Cash-on-cash

DSCR @ 8%

3.50×

Same at any price

Net cash flow

£14,280

NOI − debt service (fixed)

Lender lens · five ratios

DSCR @ 8% rate 3.50× Strong

Stress DSCR @ 10% rate 2.80× Strong

Debt Yield (NOI / Loan) 28.0% Strong

Yield on Cost 0% Viable

Net Initial Yield 0% Viable

65% LTV · 8% IO · 7% costs · NOI £20,000 · VP £110,000 (lender basis) · Refurb-to-let £64,000 (Light £25/sqft cosmetic refresh × ~2,566 NIA (existing cellular layout))

Thesis

A substantial detached former villa on Mayne Road in central Elgin, converted to cellular offices over two floors with on-site parking. Vacant, with no published income; on comparable office lease evidence the building supports an estimated rental value of about £20,000 a year. Capitalised on a vacant-possession basis the single-let value is around £110,000, and the methodology bid range on a 20% to 15% cash-on-cash basis is £75,000 to £95,000. At £250,000 the asking is roughly 2.3 times that vacant-possession value: the price is set by the building's appeal as an owner-occupied office or as a reversion to a large residential house, neither of which an investor buying for yield should fund. This page is the conservative anchor; the operator (multi-let) case, which the building's cellular layout supports well, is set out separately in multilet.html.

What's wrong with it

Vacant with no income; Elgin is a thin secondary office market, so lease-up is uncertain.
Asking is set by owner-occupier / residential-reversion value, well above any office income lens.
No interior photographs; condition, M&E, and EPC are unverified and could absorb capex beyond the £64,000 refresh.

What's right with it

Already cellular over two floors with two kitchens and two WCs: lettable as-is or sub-lettable without structural work.
On-site parking, central Elgin location, and a characterful sandstone building with broad occupier and end-user appeal.
Optionality: office let, owner-occupation, or change of use back to a substantial dwelling.

Risks

Letting risk: thin Elgin office demand; the 12-month void assumption could extend.
Price expectation: a £250,000 asking against a ~£95,000 income ceiling implies a long negotiation or a non-investor buyer.
Condition unknown: no interior evidence; survey could reveal refurbishment beyond the budgeted refresh.

DD gaps

Floor area: 3,019 sqft unlabelled; confirm NIA by measured survey (assumed ~2,566 at ×0.85).
Income evidence: any prior rent roll, EPC band, and rateable value (drives empty-rates exposure).
Title / planning: use class, parking title, and feasibility of reversion to residential.

Considerations

Reversion to residential may be the highest-value use; assess planning support (no PDR in Scotland — full application needed).
SSAS-eligible commercial: tax-free hold once let (variant below).
Loan £71,500 is below mainstream commercial mortgage minimums (£100k–£150k); cash, SSAS (50% LTV), or specialist lending is the realistic route. Ratios are computed against a notional loan.

SSAS variant · commercial, eligibleAt 50% LTV the single-let range solves to £65,000 – £90,000 on the same 20% / 15% cash-on-cash hurdles.

Quick facts

Asking: £250,000
NIA (est.): ~2,566 sqft
£/sqft: ~£83
Tenure: Heritable (TBC)
Condition: Fair
Layout: Cellular, 2 floors
Tenancy: Vacant
Portal: Rightmove (DM Hall)
Lens: Single-let anchor

Headline numbers

Range: £75k – £95k
vs asking: −62% to upper
NOI (ERV): £20,000
Refurb to let: £64,000
VP (lender basis): £110,000
DSCR @ 8%: 3.50×
SSAS range: £65k – £90k
Operator case: £100k – £130k

Property & Valuation

Facts, condition, comparables, valuation stack, and purchase-cost schedule for due-diligence reference.

Facts

Field	Value
Address	Prospect Lodge, 7 Mayne Road, Elgin, IV30 1NY
Asking	£250,000
Type	Office (former detached villa)
Floor area	3,019 sqft (NIA ~2,566, ×0.85)
Layout	Cellular over 2 floors; 2 kitchens, 2 WCs; on-site parking
Tenure	Heritable (to confirm)
Condition	Fair (no interior photos; DD item)
Tenancy	Vacant (assumed)
Portal / agent	Rightmove / DM Hall
Listing	View listing

Photos

Physical assessment

Building: traditional detached former dwelling (sandstone, slate roof, bay dormers) converted to offices; substantial and well-proportioned.
Layout: cellular, rooms off central hallways on both floors; a kitchen and WC on each floor. Suited to either single-occupier or multi-suite use without structural change.
Parking: on-site car parking to the side/front (visible in listing photographs), a meaningful advantage for office occupiers in Elgin.
Location: Mayne Road, central Elgin, within walking distance of the town centre and amenities.
Condition: no interior photographs supplied; rated Fair by default. Interior fabric, M&E, and EPC band are due-diligence items.
Reversion potential: as a large detached villa, the building also reads as a residential dwelling, which likely underpins the asking price.

Per-unit income

Floor	NIA	£/sqft	ERV
Ground (cellular)	~1,283	£8.50	£10,900
First (upper, stair only)	~1,283	£7.23	£9,300
Total ERV	~2,566		£20,000

Base ~£10/sqft (Elgin office proxy, between Perth/Dundee/Inverness mid-size medians) × 0.85 Fair; first floor at 85% (upper, no lift).

Yield selection

Sector: office. Location: Elgin (Moray), a secondary county town not separately scored in the comparable yield set. Quality: secondary.

Selected ARY: 13.5%. Benchmarked between Inverness office (prime 9–11%) and the generic "other small towns" band (prime 11–14%): Elgin sits above Inverness on risk but is supported by county-town status, the Moray Growth Deal and RAF Lossiemouth. Midpoint ~12% plus the +175 bps sub-£500k lot-size adjustment, rounded to 13.5%. Vacant, so valued on a vacant-possession basis.

Yield	Capital value (ERV £20,000)
13.0%	£153,800
13.5% (selected, gross rack)	£148,100
14.0%	£142,900

Valuation stack

Basis	Value	Workings
Gross rack (ERV / ARY)	£148,100	£20,000 / 13.5%
Vacant possession (VP / MV3)	£110,000	Rack less 12-mo void, 6-mo rent-free, reletting, holding
Asking	£250,000	Owner-occupier / residential-reversion price

Acquisition benchmark

No Elgin entry exists in the scored acquisition benchmarks. As a cross-check, the asking of £250,000 over 3,019 sqft is ~£83/sqft, which sits in the "likely good value, investigate further" band for commercial in a decent area (under £100/sqft). That benchmark assumes income, however: on the office income lenses the building supports a far lower figure, so the £83/sqft reads as an owner-occupier or residential-reversion price rather than an investment one.

Purchase costs

Item	Amount (@ £95,000)
LBTT	£0
Legal fees	£4,500
Disbursements	£650
Broker fee (1%)	£950
Lender arrangement (2% of loan)	£1,430
Lender legal	£2,500
Surveys / DD	£2,000
Total purchase costs	£12,030
Refurbish to let (separate)	£64,000

LBTT nil below £150,000. Costs scale with price; shown at the single-let upper end. Refurbish-to-let is a Light £25/sqft cosmetic refresh across both floors (existing cellular layout, no subdivision).

Strategy & Appraisal

Value-add angles, holding-structure recommendation, and supporting analyses for the bid thesis.

Value-add angles

Single-tenant office letModerate

Refresh and let to one occupier at ~£20,000. Parking and central location help, but Elgin office demand is thin.

Key risk: extended void in a shallow market.

Owner-occupier saleModerate

The building's characterful, parked, central-Elgin profile appeals to a business buying its own HQ, which supports the asking but not an investor's return.

Key risk: not an investment exit; episodic demand.

Reversion to residentialModerate

As a large detached villa, conversion back to a dwelling may be the highest-value use. Requires a full planning application (no PDR in Scotland).

Key risk: planning and conversion cost; outside an income strategy.

Multi-let operator caseStrong

Existing cellular layout, two kitchens and two WCs make this a natural managed Office+Health multi-let. See multilet.html for the operator bid range (£100k–£130k).

Key risk: Elgin multi-let demand is unproven (proxy rate); verify locally.

Holding structure

Office held as commercial is SSAS/SIPP-eligible: a pension wrapper suits a long-term let-and-hold (tax-free income and gains), and the SSAS variant is shown on each lens. For an operator running the multi-let case actively, a company (SPV) or PropCo/OpCo with a pension holding the freehold is the cleaner structure. The small loan size favours a cash or SSAS-led purchase.

Sources

Rightmove listing (DM Hall)
Scottish Assessors Association — rateable value lookup (RV to confirm)
Revenue Scotland — LBTT non-residential bands
Ryden Scottish Property Review 2025; Inverness office evidence (proxy)
PropLens multi-let rate table — Inverness City Centre used as Elgin proxy

Jurisdiction

Scotland