You moved abroad. The property did not.
Everything about the house still happens in a country you are not in. The rent lands in a UK account at an hour you are asleep, the certificates expire on UK dates, and your picture of the place is only as good as whoever last stood in it. This page is about closing all three gaps.
What actually changes when you leave.
Managing a rental from abroad is rarely one big problem. It is three small ones that compound: you cannot see the money clearly, you cannot see the calendar clearly, and you cannot see the property at all. Most landlords solve the third by paying an agent a percentage forever, and never solve the first two.
The rent arrives while you are asleep
Finding out whether it came means opening a UK bank app at some odd hour and reading down a statement. You are doing reconciliation by eye, in a different time zone, on a phone.
The deadlines did not move with you
Gas safety, the EICR, the EPC and the deposit clock all run on UK dates whether you are in Leeds or Lisbon. Miss one and it is a penalty, not a reminder.
You see the property through other people
An agent’s summary, a relative who popped round, the tenant’s word. Your picture of the house is only ever as good as whoever looked at it last, and none of it is dated evidence.
Two of the three, solved by software.
The money and the calendar do not need anyone standing in the property. They need one place that knows what was paid, what is due and what expires when, and that will tell you before it matters rather than after.
Rent that reconciles itself
Collect by Direct Debit and the ledger marks itself off. Late payments raise a flag and start the chasing sequence without you being awake for it.
Certificates chased before they lapse
Gas, EICR and EPC renewals are tracked against each property and emailed to you before the expiry date, with a live 0 to 100 score for the whole portfolio.
Books HMRC will accept
Photograph a receipt and it is read for you, categorised to the SA105 boxes and totalled per quarter, ready for Making Tax Digital.
Dated evidence, not recollections
Inventories, inspections and every document you serve are timestamped and filed against the tenancy, so the record does not depend on who remembers what.
The 20% you did not agree to.
If your usual place of abode is outside the UK, the Non-Resident Landlord Scheme applies to your rent. HMRC works to being absent from the UK for more than six months of the tax year, and that is a different test from the one used for general UK tax residence, so it catches people who still think of themselves as living here.
If you use an agent
The agent must deduct basic-rate tax at 20% from your rent, after expenses paid through them, and pay it to HMRC quarterly.
If you do not
Where the tenant pays you more than £100 a week, the duty to deduct that 20% falls on the tenant. At £100 a week or less, no deduction is required. Most tenants have never heard of this.
To receive it gross
Apply to HMRC for approval. For an individual that is form NRL1. The rent then arrives whole and you settle the tax through Self Assessment instead.
This is general information, not tax advice. Cross-border cases turn on residence, domicile and any double-taxation treaty, none of which a web page can see. The full NRLS guide covers the forms in detail, and anything non-standard is worth an hour of a UK adviser with cross-border experience.
The third one needs a person.
No software can stand in a hallway. When the property needs someone in it, you can buy that one job at a time instead of handing over a percentage of every month’s rent for the rest of the tenancy.
Where we can attend, plainly: visits are delivered in person and are local, roughly within fifty minutes of Crewe, which covers much of Cheshire and the area around it. The software runs a property anywhere in the UK. If yours is further out, tell us the postcode and we will say so rather than take the booking.
Photographs and floor plans
For the advert, taken properly rather than by whoever has a key.
Accompanied viewings
Someone shows the property and sends you feedback the same day.
Check-in and check-out
A paired inventory at both ends, which is what a deposit dispute turns on.
Mid-tenancy inspection
A dated condition report with photographs, so you know before it is expensive.
Tell us the situation.
Every overseas let is a slightly different shape: an agent you have outgrown, a tenant deducting tax you did not know about, a check-in nobody can do, a property you have not seen in three years. Write what is actually happening and we will tell you what we would do.
- A person reads it, usually within a working day
- If the answer is a free tool, we will say that
- If we cannot cover your area, we will say that too
Questions overseas landlords ask.
- Am I a non-resident landlord?
- For the Non-Resident Landlord Scheme the test is whether your usual place of abode is outside the UK, and HMRC works to being absent from the UK for more than six months of the tax year. It is a different test from the Statutory Residence Test, so you can be UK tax resident and still fall inside the scheme. A landlord who winters abroad from October to April is the classic case.
- Why is 20% being taken off my rent?
- That is the scheme working as designed. If you are a non-resident landlord and you have not been approved to receive rent gross, your letting agent must deduct basic-rate tax at 20% from the rent, after expenses paid through the agent, and pay it to HMRC quarterly. It is not a penalty and it is not lost: it is tax paid up front, which you settle against your actual bill on your return.
- I do not use an agent. Does the scheme still apply?
- Yes, and this is the part that catches people out. Where there is no letting agent and the tenant pays you more than £100 a week, the obligation to deduct 20% falls on the tenant. If the rent is £100 a week or less, no deduction is required and the tenant pays gross. Most tenants have no idea this rule exists, which is exactly how a landlord ends up with a problem that was never theirs to start.
- How do I stop the deduction and get the rent in full?
- By applying to HMRC for approval to receive rent gross. For an individual landlord that is form NRL1. Approval does not make the income tax free: it means you receive the rent without deduction and settle the tax through Self Assessment instead. Our guide walks through NRL1 and the related forms. This is general information rather than tax advice, and cross-border cases turn on residence, domicile and any double-taxation treaty, so take advice from a UK adviser with cross-border experience for anything non-standard.
- Can you attend my property if I am abroad?
- Sometimes, and we will tell you straight away. Viewings, inspections, inventories and photography are delivered in person, so they are local: roughly within fifty minutes of Crewe, which covers much of Cheshire and the surrounding area. The software runs a property anywhere in the UK. If your property is outside that radius, message us with the postcode and we will either say no or point you at what we would do in your position.
- Do I have to switch off my letting agent?
- No. Plenty of overseas landlords keep an agent for the parts that need a person and use LetCompliance for the parts an agent charges for but does not do well: the certificate deadlines, the rent record, the expenses and the tax return. Others move to self-managing and buy the visits one at a time. Either way you own the record.
Distance is the problem. It does not have to be the cost.
Start free on one property, with no card. Fourteen days of everything first, then it settles onto the free plan and stays there.