# The Deal Score, and why it is computed after tax

> The Deal Score is a 0–100 figure built from nine weighted components — margin, resilience, exit optionality, capital recycling, seller motivation, completion probability, jurisdiction readiness, protection status and valuation confidence. It is computed on profit after tax, never before it, because a pre-tax number flatters every deal. Hard gates cap it: a Seller Protection block holds it at 35 whatever the margin says.

- Source: https://www.lodeprop.com/blog/how-a-deal-score-is-computed
- Topic: Deal analysis
- Published: 2026-10-20
- Updated: 2026-10-20
- Figures: computed from a worked example

A single number for a property deal is only worth having if it cannot be gamed and it says why it is what it is. A score that is one unexplained figure invites the user to argue with it; a score that shows its working invites them to act on it. The Deal Score is built to be the second kind.

## What goes into the number?

Nine components, each weighted and each carrying its own sentence of reasoning. None of them is a vibe. They are the things that actually decide whether a purchase is worth making and whether it survives contact with a completion statement.

### The nine components, each scored with its reasoning

| | |
| --- | --- |
| Margin | Profit after tax against the finished value |
| Resilience | How the deal holds under the Red Team stresses |
| Exit optionality | How many of the exit matrix routes actually work |
| Capital recycling | How much deployed cash comes back on exit |
| Seller motivation | Whether there is a real reason to transact |
| Completion probability | Whether the transaction is likely to complete at all |
| Jurisdiction readiness | Whether the nation's tax and rules are fully modelled |
| Protection status | Whether Seller Protection has anything to say |
| Valuation confidence | How well the open market value is evidenced |

Because each component is scored separately and published with its reasoning, two deals that land on the same total for different reasons do not look identical. One scoring 61 on a thin margin and a strong exit is a different proposition from one scoring 61 on a fat margin and a single fragile exit, and the breakdown says so.

## Why after tax, and not before?

Profit is taxed, and transfer tax is paid on the way in. A score computed before either overstates every outcome — and it overstates the marginal ones most, which is exactly where the decision is being made. Nobody needs a score to reject an obvious dog or accept a once-in-a-decade bargain; the score earns its place on the deals in between, and those are the ones a pre-tax figure gets wrong.

So the additional dwelling surcharge is charged into the deployed total before true discount is computed, and corporation tax is charged against profit before the margin component is scored. The number that comes out is duller than a headline and it is the one that holds up.

## What can cap a good score?

Hard gates, and they are not negotiable. A Seller Protection block caps the score at 35 and forces a rejection whatever the margin says, because converting someone's circumstances into a discount is the one thing this platform exists to refuse. A single-factor Red Team loss caps the score too — a deal that loses money when one variable moves is fragile, and no amount of headline margin buys that back.

A jurisdiction with no complete tax model cannot return a full score either. An unknown nation routes to not-supported rather than defaulting to England, because a confident score built on the wrong tax tables is worse than an honest refusal to score.

## What the number is not

- It is not a valuation. It scores a deal, not a property, and the same house is a different score at a different price.
- It is not a promise. Completion probability is a component precisely because a third of agreed sales fall through.
- It is not a pre-tax figure dressed up. The tax is in the number, not in a footnote beneath it.
- It is not a figure you can argue the engine out of. The reasoning is published so you can act on it, not appeal it.

That is the whole proposition. One number, computed the same way every time, on profit after tax, carrying the reasons it is what it is — and capped, hard, where a person's circumstances or a deal's fragility says it must be.

## Common questions

### Is the Deal Score a valuation?

No. It scores a deal at a price, not a property. Move the purchase price and the score moves, because margin, true discount and capital recycling all depend on what you pay.

### Why can a high-margin deal still score badly?

Because margin is one component of nine, and because the hard gates override the total. A fat margin on a fragile deal that loses money when a single variable moves is capped by the Red Team gate, and a fat margin on a blocked deal is capped at 35.

### What does computing after tax actually change?

It lowers the score on every deal and lowers it most on the marginal ones. Transfer tax is charged into the deployed total and corporation tax against profit before the margin component is scored, so the number reflects what is left rather than what was gross.

## Terms used

- [true discount](https://www.lodeprop.com/glossary/true-discount) — Total money deployed measured against open market value, rather than the headline discount on the purchase price.
- [Deal Score](https://www.lodeprop.com/glossary/deal-score) — A 0-100 score computed from nine weighted components, always on profit after tax, never before it.
- [additional dwelling surcharge](https://www.lodeprop.com/glossary/additional-dwelling-surcharge) — Extra transfer tax charged when the buyer already owns another property, or is buying through a company.
- [seller protection](https://www.lodeprop.com/glossary/seller-protection) — Checks that can stop a transaction outright where a seller may not be able to give free and informed consent.
- [capital recycling](https://www.lodeprop.com/glossary/capital-recycling) — How much of the cash put into a deal comes back out on exit, and how much stays trapped in the property.
- [Red Team](https://www.lodeprop.com/glossary/red-team) — Nine stress scenarios run against every deal, with single-factor losses treated more seriously than compound ones.
- [exit matrix](https://www.lodeprop.com/glossary/exit-matrix) — Every way out of a property costed side by side: sell, refinance and hold, rent, or assign the contract.
- [completion probability](https://www.lodeprop.com/glossary/completion-probability) — The chance a transaction actually completes, derived from the chain, the tenure, the finance and what the seller needs.

## Sources

- [Corporation Tax rates and reliefs](https://www.gov.uk) — HM Revenue & Customs (publisher's site; search the title there). The main rate, the small profits rate and marginal relief between them.
- [Stamp Duty Land Tax rates](https://www.gov.uk) — HM Revenue & Customs (publisher's site; search the title there). The bands and rates in force, and the reliefs that alter them.
- [Higher rates for additional dwellings](https://www.gov.uk) — HM Revenue & Customs (publisher's site; search the title there). The surcharge on a second residential property, and that a company pays it from the first pound.
- [Price Paid Data](https://landregistry.data.gov.uk) — HM Land Registry (publisher's site; search the title there). Every registered residential sale in England and Wales since 1995.

## Related

- [A free property appraisal that shows the true discount](https://www.lodeprop.com/blog/a-free-property-deal-appraisal-no-account) — Every cost, the transfer tax and the stress tests on figures you supply, with no account and nothing tracked. It returns buyer-side arithmetic, not a Deal…
- [The walk-away price in a deal: computed, not chosen](https://www.lodeprop.com/blog/the-walk-away-price-is-computed-not-chosen) — The highest price at which a deal still works is computed from the same engine that scores it, so it cannot drift during a conversation. An offer below…
- [The exit matrix: a position, not a bet](https://www.lodeprop.com/blog/property-exit-matrix-sell-refinance-rent-assign) — Sell, refinance and hold, rent, or assign — every way out of a property costed side by side and after tax. A deal with one exit is a bet on that exit; a deal…
- [Red Team stress testing: finding the fragile deal](https://www.lodeprop.com/blog/red-team-stress-testing-a-property-deal) — Nine scenarios move the value, the works, the rate and the timeline — one at a time, then together. Only single-factor losses cap the score, because a deal…

_Component descriptions reflect the Lode scoring engine; every live score carries the same reasoning._