Landlord finance · 39 guides
The financial side of being a landlord: buy-to-let income tax after Section 24, mortgage interest credits, capital gains tax on sale, allowable expenses, maintenance deductions and when to incorporate.
Tax & Finance6 October 2026
HMRC lists 165 products for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax. 128 handle UK property income for a landlord, and only 84 of those can send the tax return today. Every product page was read on 6 October 2026: the counts, what “tax return” really means, and the 11 built only for landlords.
8 min readRead
Tax & Finance6 October 2026
Yes, a landlord can sign up for Making Tax Digital, keep the records and send every update without an accountant. GOV.UK treats an agent as optional. What you need, the steps in order, the 2026 to 2027 deadlines, and when paying for advice still makes sense.
8 min readRead
Tax & Finance6 October 2026
Since September 2026 HMRC has been signing up landlords who should be in Making Tax Digital but have not joined. If a letter or online message says you have been signed up, here is how to check it is genuine, what it asks you to do, and why an overdue update is not yet a penalty.
7 min readRead
Tax & Finance6 October 2026
You can change Making Tax Digital software at any time, but the next update from the new software has to cover the whole year so far. What GOV.UK says about moving mid-year, the update-period trap, one product per submission, and a checklist for switching without a gap.
7 min readRead
Landlord Finance6 October 2026
Landlord software costs from nothing to about £100 a month, and the headline price hides most of the difference: VAT, per-room counting, per-submission fees and paid add-ons. Prices from each company’s own site on 6 October 2026, and what each price actually buys.
9 min readRead
Landlord Finance6 October 2026
England’s average private rent reached £1,459 a month in August 2026, up 4.0% in a year. The Office for National Statistics’ figures for all 294 councils: where rents rose fastest, the 11 where they fell, and every council’s average.
8 min readRead
Tax & Finance6 October 2026
279,000 people with rental income join Making Tax Digital in April 2027 and 338,000 in April 2028, the biggest landlord wave, on HMRC’s own statistics. Where the UK’s 2.85 million landlords live, and who stays outside MTD.
7 min readRead
Tax & Finance4 June 2026
Thinking of selling up in 2026? The full exit guide for landlords and agents: vacant possession with the new Section 8 sale ground, selling with a sitting tenant, the capital gains tax bill and 60-day rule, and the one question to answer before you sell at all.
12 min readRead
Finance & Compliance2 June 2026
A real UK landlord breaks down the 2026 maths: net yield after Section 24 and the Renters Rights Act, when buy-to-let still works and when it does not. Worked example plus free calculators.
11 min readRead
Finance & Compliance19 April 2026
SDLT on a UK buy-to-let in 2026: the 5% additional-property surcharge, the 2% non-resident surcharge, current bands, when first-time buyer relief applies, and the most common ways landlords overpay or trigger HMRC enquiries.
14 min readRead
Finance & Compliance19 April 2026
No statutory rule forces a UK landlord to hand a tenant the plumber’s receipt, but HMRC, a deposit adjudicator and the First-tier Tribunal will all hold it against you if you can’t produce it. When you must, when you should, and how long HMRC expects you to keep records.
12 min readRead
Finance & Compliance13 April 2026
Allowable repairs vs capital improvements for UK landlords in 2026: the line HMRC actually draws, what counts each side and a year-end export your accountant will accept on Self Assessment.
18 min readRead
Landlord Finance24 March 2026
A complete guide to buy-to-let tax: income tax on rental profits, the mortgage interest restriction, CGT rates, and how to reduce your liability legally.
11 min readRead
Tax & Finance17 April 2026
What cover UK landlords actually need in 2026: buildings, contents, loss of rent, rent guarantee, legal expenses, HMO and unoccupied property. With average premiums and exclusions that catch landlords out.
18 min readRead
Tax & Finance17 April 2026
Making Tax Digital for Income Tax Self Assessment now applies to UK landlords with qualifying income (property plus self-employment) over £50,000 from April 2026, and over £30,000 from April 2027. Here’s what you must submit quarterly, the software you need, and the penalties for missing a deadline.
18 min readRead
Tax & Finance17 April 2026
Selling a UK buy-to-let in 2026? CGT rates for residential property, the 60-day reporting deadline to HMRC, Private Residence Relief, Letting Relief and the allowance, explained with real numbers.
14 min readRead
Tax & Finance17 April 2026
With MTD ITSA live from April 2026 landlords need HMRC-recognised software. This guide compares Hammock, Landlord Vision, Xero, FreeAgent and QuickBooks on MTD readiness, bank feeds and portfolio features.
13 min readRead
Tax & Finance17 April 2026
BTL mortgage rates in 2026 after the Bank Rate cuts: what 2-year fixes, 5-year fixes and tracker products look like, plus ICR stress tests and product-fee trade-offs. Real numbers for landlords remortgaging.
12 min readRead
Tax & Finance18 April 2026
The gross yield headline hides the real return. This 2026 guide walks through gross, net and after-tax rental yield with worked UK examples and the exact costs landlords forget.
14 min readRead
Tax & Finance18 April 2026
Section 24 inflates your taxable rental profit so much that some landlords pay more tax than they earn in cash. Here’s how phantom income works in 2026 and four legal ways to cut the bill.
12 min readRead
Tax & Finance18 April 2026
Transferring BTLs into a limited company is pitched as a Section 24 cure. But SDLT, CGT and lender consent eat into the savings. Real 2026 numbers with three worked scenarios.
13 min readRead
Tax & Finance17 July 2026
Your agent collects the rent, so surely MTD is their problem? No. Making Tax Digital sits with you, the landlord, and it is measured on the GROSS rent before the agent’s fee, not the net figure on your statement. The gross-vs-net trap, the agent-fee deduction and what you actually file.
12 min readRead
Tax & Finance17 July 2026
If you hold property through a limited company, Making Tax Digital for Income Tax does not apply to you, because companies pay Corporation Tax, which sits outside MTD. What you file instead, the free-filing service that closed on 31 March 2026, and the trap for landlords with property both personally and in a company.
10 min readRead
Tax & Finance17 July 2026
Who pays council tax on a let (the tenant, the landlord, or the landlord for an HMO) and when the bill falls back on you. Plus the premiums that can double it: the second homes premium from April 2025 and the long-term empty homes premium, with the void exceptions that protect landlords.
10 min readRead
Landlord Finance17 July 2026
Not “should I buy a rental” but “now I have one, is it worth keeping?” The honest 2026 picture: the real income after Section 24 and voids, the time and regulation the Renters’ Rights Act added, who letting still rewards, and when to sell, use an agent, or run it better.
11 min readRead
Landlord Finance18 July 2026
Rent guarantee insurance pays your rent when the tenant does not, and usually covers the legal cost of getting them out. Whether it is worth it comes down to the small print: the referencing condition, the excess, the arrears cap, and what voids it. An honest look for landlords.
9 min readRead
Landlord Finance16 September 2026
The second wave of Making Tax Digital starts on 6 April 2027 and catches landlords whose rent and self-employment turnover passed £30,000 on the 2025 to 2026 tax return. What counts towards the figure, how HMRC decides, the four update deadlines and what to do in the months before it starts.
10 min readRead
Landlord Finance21 September 2026
The portfolio form your broker sends over is not the lender's invention. Four of its demands are written into the regulator's own supervisory statement, including a business plan and the future cash flows of every property you own.
10 min readRead
Landlord Finance21 September 2026
Four or more mortgaged buy-to-lets makes you a portfolio landlord in the regulator's own words, and every application after that is underwritten differently. The definition, the four things a lender may ask you for, and the cost list behind the rent stress test.
11 min readRead
Landlord Finance21 September 2026
All your UK properties count as a single UK property business, so ten of them still mean one quarterly update. Where that stops being true, what happens when you buy or sell mid-year, and why a first foreign property can sit outside the system for nearly two years.
10 min readRead
Landlord Finance21 September 2026
There is no penalty for a late quarterly update in the 2026 to 2027 tax year, and that is the fact landlords get wrong in both directions. What the free year does not cover, how the four-point system works, why five properties still only cost you one point, and what changes after April 2027.
11 min readRead
Landlord Finance18 July 2026
Updates are due 7 August, 7 November, 7 February and 7 May. Who has to send them, the exact period each one covers, what the figures must contain, and why a late one will not cost you a penalty point this tax year.
11 min readRead
Landlord Finance18 July 2026
The 2025 Budget confirmed a rise of 2 percentage points in the tax on property income from April 2027: landlords will pay 22% / 42% / 47% instead of the wage-income rates. What that means today, plus every relief still available: Section 24, replacement of domestic items, mortgage interest tax credit, mileage.
12 min readRead
Landlord Finance18 July 2026
MTD ITSA thresholds apply per person, not per property. Own a rental with your spouse? You each report your share separately, and if you really own it in unequal shares, Form 17 lets each of you be taxed on your actual share. The 2026 guide to jointly-owned property under MTD.
10 min readRead
Landlord Finance18 July 2026
If your property income is under £50,000 you don’t legally have to file MTD ITSA yet. The £30k tier starts April 2027 and the £20k tier April 2028. But HMRC lets you volunteer early. The pros, cons and the specific situations where volunteering actually saves you money.
9 min readRead
Landlord Finance18 July 2026
MTD ITSA came in for £50k+ landlords on 6 April 2026. Ten common myths, debunked with the actual HMRC rules: the £50k threshold is property income not profit, joint ownership is per-person, you don’t need Xero, and the penalty grace period is real.
9 min readRead
Landlord Finance18 July 2026
Xero and QuickBooks can file MTD ITSA, and so can several landlord apps, LetCompliance among them for UK property income. But a generic accounting app doesn’t know a Section 24 finance-cost restriction from a replacement-of-domestic-items claim. Where each type of tool wins, and where it loses.
9 min readRead
Landlord Finance3 August 2026
If you let a UK property while living overseas, the rent that lands in your account has usually already been through another pair of hands. Who deducts the basic rate of tax, the £100 a week rule that puts the job on your tenant, what NRL1 approval really changes, and the cost nobody counts.
9 min readRead
Landlord Finance18 July 2026
If your usual home is outside the UK for six months of the year and you let a UK property, the Non-Resident Landlord Scheme kicks in. Your letting agent (or tenant paying over £100/week) deducts basic-rate tax from the rent after allowable expenses, unless you have NRL1 approval to receive rent gross. The 2026 guide.
11 min readRead
Landlord software for the whole let
Advertise and reference tenants, sign the agreement, collect the rent, log repairs and keep the tax figures ready all year. Certificates, deposits and deadlines are tracked alongside, so nothing expires unnoticed.
Plans from £7.99 a month, with a 3-day trial and no card. Making Tax Digital, recognised by HMRC, comes with every paid plan, not the trial.
Related
