The proposed duties would cover letting agents acting for UK-based landlords (including individuals, companies, partnerships and trusts) who let residential property in the UK’s private rented sector. The consultation is considering monthly or quarterly submissions.
HMRC has stated it is working with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to consider the requirements alongside the new ‘Register your rental property’ service, but there is no proposal for a single reporting process that would meet both sets of duties.
Agent input is critical to ensure a workable system
HMRC wants evidence about staff time, costs, and other practical challenges, including how reporting could fit existing accounting and rent-processing routines.
We encourage individuals to respond to the consultation and urge members to also share their feedback with us to inform our collective response and engagement with the UK Government.
Read the consultation on GOV.UK →
The consultation is open for responses until 20 January 2027. Members can share feedback with Propertymark’s Policy and Campaigns team at [email protected].
Why is HMRC changing the system?
HMRC already collects property income data from letting agents and tenancy deposit protection schemes by issuing notices to request it. Reports generally cover a tax year, and businesses have 60 days to respond to a notice, which means information can be received more than 13 months after a transaction took place.
More timely and accurate records would help HMRC spot errors earlier, identify landlords who need to register for Self Assessment, and offer more useful support to taxpayers.
No lower limit on income or rents
There is no plan for a minimum financial threshold, so small amounts of rental income will still need to be reported, and a low rent alone would not remove the duty. These changes will bring businesses that do not currently report to HMRC into the reporting system.
The consultation asks how the rules should define residential property and which businesses should report. It also asks whether franchises, networks, and other business structures could create uncertainty about which organisation is responsible.
Exclusions and existing reporting arrangements
Reporting covered by the Non-Resident Landlord Scheme would be excluded from the proposed reforms, because that scheme already requires returns about landlords whose usual place of abode is outside the UK. Other targeted exclusions will be used where reporting would serve no useful tax purpose, potentially including some tax-exempt public bodies.
Commercial property and land would fall outside the proposed residential reporting framework, but HMRC would still be able to request information about these and other matters outside the new system.
What information would agents need from landlords?
Agents would be required to request, hold, keep up to date, and report tax identifiers which help HMRC match information to the correct taxpayer. Depending on the landlord’s circumstances, the tax identifier could be a National Insurance number, company registration number, VAT registration number, or a Unique Taxpayer Reference.
For new landlord relationships and newly registered deposits, the proposal is to request identifiers when setting up the client or deposit record.
For existing clients, agents would need to make reasonable efforts to obtain missing identifiers. This could involve contacting clients or collecting information during routine reviews, although a definition of ‘reasonable efforts’ hasn’t yet been confirmed.
Could reports include fees, expenses, and property details?
HMRC wants to know which details businesses already hold, and which could be reported without disproportionate work or cost.
Alongside tax identifiers, it is considering a wider range of information, including:
- Landlord type and date of birth.
- Tenancy start and end dates.
- Gross rental income, before deductions.
- Property management fees.
- Allowable expenses or other deductions from rental income.
- Details of beneficial ownership where property is held in trust.
- Unique Property Reference Numbers, which identify individual properties.
- Landlord identifiers from the Private Rented Sector database.
Would agents have to check the information?
Businesses would be required to take reasonable steps to improve the accuracy of tax identifiers before reporting them. This could involve using information already held by the business and public sources where appropriate.
The consultation asks about the checks agents could reasonably carry out, how these could build on existing processes, and what guidance or digital tools would help.
How would reports be submitted?
A standard digital format would be introduced which would allow automatic checks for missing information and errors and make records easier to process.
Possible submission routes include an online service where businesses with fewer records could enter information directly, alongside automated reporting through commercial software.
To comply, agents may need software updates or changes to how they store and export client information. HMRC is asking what existing systems can support, what changes would cost and how much preparation time businesses would need.
