Let Property Campaign: HMRC Landlord Disclosure Guide

Key points

If you have let a home and have not told HMRC about the rent, the Let Property Campaign is usually the best way to put it right.

✓ It is for individual landlords of residential property in the UK or abroad, including holiday lets and inherited homes. Commercial property, companies and trusts use the Digital Disclosure Service instead.

✓ You disclose up to 4 years if you took reasonable care, up to 6 if you were careless, and up to 20 if you never registered or acted deliberately.

✓ Once HMRC acknowledges your notification, you have 90 days to submit the disclosure and pay.

✓ Penalties are a percentage of the tax, and they are lower when you come forward before HMRC contacts you.

✓ Landlords abroad get credit for tax withheld under the Non-Resident Landlord Scheme, and many can claim the personal allowance.

If you let out a residential property and have not told HMRC about the rent, the Let Property Campaign is the route HMRC gives landlords to put it right. You tell HMRC you are coming forward, work out what you owe, and pay it on terms that are usually far better than waiting to be found.

The campaign covers landlords in the UK and landlords who live abroad alike. It applies to one flat or a whole portfolio, to holiday lets and to a house you inherited and started renting out.

This guide explains who can use the campaign, how many years you need to go back, the 90-day process, how penalties are worked out, and the extra points to check if you live outside the UK.

Who can use the Let Property Campaign?

HMRC says it is for individual landlords with undisclosed income from letting residential property, in the UK or abroad. That includes:

➜ Single or multiple properties: one buy-to-let or a portfolio, owned alone or jointly.

➜ Holiday lets: including short lets through platforms such as Airbnb.

➜ A room in your home: where the rent is above the £7,500 Rent a Room threshold.

➜ Landlords living abroad: if you live overseas for six months or more and let a UK property.

➜ Accidental landlords: for example, if you inherited a property and started renting it out.

It does not cover commercial property such as a shop or garage, or income belonging to a company or trust. Those go through HMRC's general Digital Disclosure Service instead. If HMRC has already told you it is opening an enquiry, a campaign disclosure is unlikely to be accepted, and you should disclose to the officer dealing with it.

👉 HMRC guidance: Let Property Campaign, your guide to making a disclosure

"There was no tax to pay" is not the same as "nothing to report"

Many landlords end up here because they assumed a small or loss-making let did not need declaring. The rules are stricter than that:

➜ UK-resident landlords: you must tell HMRC by 5 October after the tax year in which you first have taxable rental income. For rent in 2025/26, that deadline is 5 October 2026.

➜ Non-resident landlords: you are expected to file a Self Assessment return every year unless HMRC tells you otherwise, even if your profit is covered by the personal allowance. See our guide to the 📖 Non-Resident Landlord Scheme.

➜ Loss-making years: a year with no tax due does not need to be in the disclosure, but keep the calculation. The loss can be carried forward against future rental profits.

If you are not sure whether you should have been filing at all, start with 📖 do I need to file a UK tax return.

How does HMRC find undeclared rental income?

HMRC is more likely to find it on its own every year. HMRC's Connect system matches information from many sources, including:

➜ Letting agents: HMRC can require agents to provide details of the landlords they act for.

➜ Digital platforms: since 1 January 2024, platforms such as Airbnb and Booking.com have had to report hosts' income to HMRC under the OECD platform reporting rules.

➜ Property records: Land Registry ownership, tenancy deposit schemes and council tax records.

➜ Overseas authorities: for landlords abroad, information shared under international exchange agreements.

HMRC also sends targeted letters to people it believes have undeclared rent. Coming forward before HMRC contacts you is what keeps a disclosure "unprompted", and that makes a real difference to the penalty.

How many years do you need to disclose?

How far back you go depends on why the income was not declared. You assess your own behaviour on the disclosure, and that sets the number of years.

Image 1: how far back a disclosure goes

➜ You took reasonable care: up to 4 years. HMRC does not expect many people to fall into this category.

➜ You were careless: up to 6 years. This is where most disclosures sit.

➜ You never told HMRC at all: up to 20 years, where you failed to register for Self Assessment when you should have.

➜ It was deliberate: up to 20 years.

Two years are handled differently. The current tax year, and the year before it, go on normal tax returns rather than in the disclosure. HMRC also expects any outstanding returns it has already issued, from 2022/23 onwards, to be completed rather than included.

Worked example: An inherited house

Sarah inherited her mother's house in 2019 and has let it since April 2019 for £900 a month. She earns £60,000 a year, so all her rental profit is taxed at 40%. She never registered for Self Assessment.

The penalty assumes a non-deliberate failure to notify, disclosed unprompted but more than three years late. Interest is added on each year's tax. Her 2025/26 rent goes on a tax return due by 31 January 2027, and 2026/27 on the return after that.

The five-step process, from notification to acceptance

The process runs to a fixed timetable, and the 90-day clock starts as soon as HMRC acknowledges your notification.

Image 2: five steps and the 90-day clock

1. Notify HMRC. Tell HMRC you intend to make a disclosure. You do not need figures at this stage. HMRC sends you a disclosure reference number and a payment reference number. Joint owners each need their own notification and disclosure.

2. Gather records and calculate. Work out the income, allowable expenses and tax for each year, using the rules in force at the time. The phased restriction on mortgage interest between 2017/18 and 2020/21 is a common source of errors. If records are missing, HMRC accepts reasonable estimates, but keep your workings.

3. Prepare the disclosure. Set out the tax, interest and penalty for each year, your assessment of your behaviour, and a short explanation of why the income was not declared. The disclosure includes a formal offer to pay.

4. Pay. Payment is due with the disclosure, within the 90 days. If you cannot pay in full, contact the Let Property Campaign helpline before you submit to agree an arrangement.

5. Wait for acceptance. HMRC acknowledges the disclosure and may ask questions. If it is satisfied, it sends an acceptance letter, which together with your offer forms a binding contract.

The disclosure must also include any other income or gains you have not declared, such as untaxed interest or a gain on a property you sold. Leaving something out can lead to the disclosure being rejected.

👉 HMRC service: tell HMRC about underpaid tax from previous years

How are Let Property Campaign penalties worked out?

Two landlords with the same tax bill can pay different penalties, because the penalty is a percentage of the tax, and the percentage depends on your behaviour, whether HMRC prompted you, and the quality of your disclosure. For an unprompted disclosure of UK rental income, the ranges are:

Let Property Campaign penalty ranges for unprompted disclosures

Where you land in the range depends on telling HMRC everything, helping it understand the figures, and giving access to records. There is a catch for long-running cases: if you took more than three years to correct things, HMRC usually will not reduce the penalty below the minimum of the range plus 10 percentage points.

Income from property abroad is an offshore matter, with penalties of up to 200%. See our guide to the 📖 Worldwide Disclosure Facility.

👉 HMRC factsheet CC/FS11: penalties for failure to notify

👉 The law: Finance Act 2008, Schedule 41 (failure to notify penalties)

👉 HMRC factsheet CC/FS7a: penalties for inaccuracies in returns

👉 The law: Finance Act 2007, Schedule 24 (penalties for errors)

Living abroad? Extra points for non-resident landlords

The process is the same if you have left the UK, but a few things change the numbers:

➜ Tax already withheld: if your letting agent or tenant deducted 20% under the Non-Resident Landlord Scheme, that tax counts towards what you owe.

➜ Your personal allowance: UK and EEA nationals, and residents of some treaty countries, can usually claim it. That can reduce the tax due for each year, sometimes to nil.

➜ Residence questions: if your residence status for past years is unclear, flag it on the disclosure form. Your status under the 📖 Statutory Residence Test decides what else the UK could tax.

➜ Property you have sold: non-residents must report every disposal of UK property within 60 days, even with no tax to pay. See 📖 non-resident capital gains tax.

Why come forward now?

It is almost always worth disclosing before HMRC writes to you. An unprompted disclosure means:

➜ Lower penalties: the minimum penalty is lower when HMRC has not prompted you.

➜ A civil route: HMRC treats a complete, unprompted disclosure as a strong indicator that a criminal investigation is not appropriate, although it cannot guarantee immunity.

➜ No publication: HMRC will not publish your details as a deliberate defaulter if you disclose fully, pay on time and co-operate.

➜ Certainty: the acceptance letter closes the years covered.

If you would like the rental figures worked out and the disclosure prepared for you, see our Let Property Campaign service.

Once the disclosure is accepted, you will need to file returns on time going forward. If your gross income from property and self-employment is above £50,000, Making Tax Digital for Income Tax applies from April 2026, with the threshold falling to £30,000 from April 2027. HMRC has deferred it to April 2027 for people who file the SA109 residence pages.

Frequently asked questions

What is the HMRC Let Property Campaign?

The Let Property Campaign is an HMRC disclosure facility for individual landlords of residential property who have rental income they have not declared. You tell HMRC you want to make a disclosure, then have 90 days to submit it and pay what you owe. Coming forward voluntarily usually means lower penalties than waiting for HMRC to contact you.

Can I use the Let Property Campaign if I live abroad?

Yes. HMRC's guidance specifically includes landlords who live abroad for six months or more and let a UK property. Tax already withheld under the Non-Resident Landlord Scheme, and your personal allowance if you qualify, are taken into account.

How many years do I need to disclose under the Let Property Campaign?

Up to 4 years if you took reasonable care, up to 6 if you were careless, and up to 20 if you never registered or acted deliberately. The current and previous tax years go on normal tax returns rather than the disclosure.

What penalty will I pay under the Let Property Campaign?

For an unprompted disclosure of UK rent, careless errors carry 0% to 30% of the tax, deliberate errors 20% to 70%, and deliberate and concealed errors 30% to 100%. If you took more than three years to come forward, expect at least 10 percentage points above the minimum.

Do I need to disclose years when my property made a loss?

No. HMRC only expects years with unpaid tax in the disclosure. Keep the loss calculation, though, because rental losses can be carried forward against future rental profits.

Will HMRC prosecute me if I use the Let Property Campaign?

Prosecution is very unlikely after a complete, unprompted disclosure. HMRC cannot offer immunity, but it treats a full voluntary disclosure as a strong reason to deal with a case through the civil route.

Last reviewed on 22 October 2026 by Emma McDermott, ATT, founder of Global Tax Consulting, in line with the law in force at that date: Finance Act 2008, Schedule 41 and Finance Act 2007, Schedule 24, and the HMRC guidance cited above.