On 5 October 2026 HMRC said there are “just six months to go” until sole traders and landlords with qualifying income over £30,000 must use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, and that around 1,077,000 more people join from 6 April 2027. HMRC’s own statistics split that figure, and the waves either side of it, into landlords and sole traders. Read on 6 October 2026, they show:
- 279,000 people with rental income join in April 2027: 182,000 who have only rental income and 97,000 who are also self-employed.
- 338,000 join in April 2028, when the threshold falls to £20,000: the largest landlord wave of the three. 263,000 of them have only rental income, more than twice the 118,000 landlord-only group that started in April 2026.
- By April 2028, 876,000 people with rental income will be in, 563,000 of them landlords with no self-employment.
- That is about three in ten of the 2.96 million people with rental income in HMRC’s figures. Seven in ten had qualifying income of £20,000 or less and are outside MTD on the current thresholds.
- 2.85 million individuals declared UK rental income on Self Assessment in 2024 to 2025, 2.42 million of them (with partnerships) in England. London is home to 479,000, 17% of the UK’s landlords, who declare 28% of all rental income.
The three waves
HMRC’s Making Tax Digital statistics, based on 2023 to 2024 Self Assessment returns:
| MTD from | Qualifying income | Everyone joining | Rental income only | Rental income and self-employed | All with rental income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 April 2026 | over £50,000 | 864,000 | 118,000 | 141,000 | 259,000 |
| 6 April 2027 | £30,000 to £50,000 | 1,077,000 | 182,000 | 97,000 | 279,000 |
| 6 April 2028 | £20,000 to £30,000 | 975,000 | 263,000 | 75,000 | 338,000 |
| By April 2028 | over £20,000 | 2,916,000 | 563,000 | 313,000 | 876,000 |
Qualifying income is gross income from self-employment and property added together, before expenses. So the “also self-employed” group can join with modest rents, while the “rental income only” group joins on rents alone. Each wave has more landlords with no other business than the last.
Who stays outside
In the same HMRC figures, 2,957,000 people had rental income. Of them:
| Qualifying income | People with rental income | Share |
|---|---|---|
| £10,000 or less | 1,276,000 | 43% |
| £10,000 to £20,000 | 804,000 | 27% |
| Over £20,000 (MTD by April 2028) | 876,000 | 30% |
So on the thresholds set today, about seven in ten people with rental income are not brought into MTD. They still file a Self Assessment return once a year.
Where landlords live
HMRC’s property rental income statistics, published 28 August 2026, count the people declaring UK rental income on Self Assessment in 2024 to 2025, by the region where the landlord lives (not where the property is):
| Region | Landlords | Gross rental income | Average per landlord |
|---|---|---|---|
| London | 479,000 | £16.65bn | £34,760 |
| South East | 472,000 | £9.36bn | £19,831 |
| South West | 306,000 | £5.66bn | £18,497 |
| East of England | 297,000 | £5.47bn | £18,418 |
| North West | 229,000 | £3.66bn | £15,983 |
| West Midlands | 206,000 | £3.28bn | £15,922 |
| East Midlands | 183,000 | £2.78bn | £15,191 |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | 181,000 | £2.69bn | £14,862 |
| North East | 69,000 | £1.01bn | £14,638 |
| England | 2,422,000 |
These counts include partnerships as well as individuals; the UK total is 2.88 million, of whom 2.85 million are individuals.
HMRC notes that London is home to 17% of landlords and 28% of rental income, and London and the South East together to a third of landlords and 44% of the income. London is also the only region where the number of landlords has grown much since 2020 to 2021 (by 37,000); every other region moved by less than 10,000 either way.
The first wave by region
HMRC has published a regional split only for the April 2026 wave (qualifying income over £50,000, 2023 to 2024 returns, by where the person lives):
| Region | With rental income | Of whom rental income only |
|---|---|---|
| London | 63,000 | 35,000 |
| South East | 44,000 | 21,000 |
| East of England | 27,000 | 12,000 |
| South West | 26,000 | 11,000 |
| North West | 18,000 | 7,000 |
| West Midlands | 15,000 | 6,000 |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | 14,000 | 5,000 |
| East Midlands | 13,000 | 5,000 |
| North East | 5,000 | 2,000 |
HMRC has not published regional figures for the 2027 or 2028 waves.
Where the first wave has got to
On 12 August 2026 HMRC said more than 436,000 sole traders and landlords had sent their first quarterly update and over 570,000 had signed up. The second quarterly update for the first wave is due on 7 November 2026. For the April 2027 wave, HMRC’s advice is to check qualifying income against the £30,000 threshold, sign up and choose software now.
The steps for landlords are in MTD from April 2027: the £30,000 threshold, and how the software on HMRC’s list compares is in one in three landlord MTD products cannot yet file the tax return. LetCompliance is recognised by HMRC for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, for UK property income, and sends quarterly updates to HMRC from the same records it keeps for the let.
Where these figures come from
- HMRC, Making Tax Digital for Income Tax business population statistics, 13 August 2025, Table 1, based on 2023 to 2024 Self Assessment returns. Individuals with self-employment or property income (UK or overseas); partnership profits are not counted.
- HMRC, Making Tax Digital industry and region management information, 17 March 2026, for the April 2026 wave by region.
- HMRC, Property rental income statistics 2026, 28 August 2026, for landlords by region in 2024 to 2025. These count Self Assessment filers declaring UK property income; landlord companies and landlords taxed only through PAYE are not included.
- HMRC press releases of 12 August 2026 and 5 October 2026.
The “all with rental income” columns, the totals by April 2028, the shares of people outside MTD, the England total and the average per landlord are LetCompliance’s sums and divisions of HMRC’s published figures, not figures HMRC publishes itself. HMRC’s counts are rounded to the nearest thousand, so sums can differ slightly. HMRC says its MTD statistics and its rental income statistics measure different things (one covers UK and overseas property, the other UK property only), so the two are not divided into each other here. The MTD waves are estimated from 2023 to 2024 returns; who actually joins depends on income in later years and on exemptions.
Sources and scope
- GOV.UK: Renting out a property
- GOV.UK: Your landlord’s safety responsibilities
- HSE: Gas safety in rented properties
Every figure on this page is cited to GOV.UK, legislation.gov.uk or HSE and reviewed against the live source every quarter. This is guidance, not individual legal advice.
Allowable vs Capital Repair Decision Tree
The single line HMRC actually draws between an allowable repair and a capital improvement, with 24 worked examples for UK landlords.
- 24 real repair scenarios classified
- Repair-vs-capital decision tree (1-page A4)
- Replacement-of-domestic-items relief explained
- Self Assessment line mapping for SA105
Frequently asked questions
How many landlords join Making Tax Digital in April 2027?
On HMRC’s statistics, 279,000 people with rental income: 182,000 with rental income only and 97,000 who are also self-employed, out of 1,077,000 people joining in April 2027 in total.
Do all landlords have to use Making Tax Digital?
No. From April 2028 it applies when qualifying income, gross self-employment and property income added together, is over £20,000. In HMRC’s 2023 to 2024 figures about seven in ten people with rental income were at or below that.
How many landlords are there in the UK?
2.85 million individuals declared UK rental income on Self Assessment in 2024 to 2025, 2.88 million with partnerships, according to HMRC’s property rental income statistics. 479,000 of them live in London.
