Landlords living abroad
If you live outside the UK for six months or more a year and let a UK property, HMRC has your agent — or your tenant — take basic-rate tax off the rent before it reaches you, unless you have asked HMRC not to. It is not a penalty and it is not optional. It is the one form to file before anything else.
The short version. Apply to HMRC on form NRL1 to receive your rent in full. Until you are approved, whoever pays you — a letting agent, a tenant paying over £100 a week, or a company leasing your property — has to deduct basic-rate tax. You still file a Self Assessment return either way.
From GOV.UK: Tax on your UK income if you live abroad — rental income and HMRC’s guidance to letting agents and tenants. Checked 14 September 2026. Basic-rate income tax is 20%; HMRC’s own worked example uses it.
The test is where you live, not tax residence: six months or more of the year outside the UK puts you in the scheme even if you remain UK tax resident. Company landlords with their main office abroad and trustees living abroad are in it too, on their own forms.
A letting agent deducts from the rent they collect. With no agent, a tenant paying more than £100 a week deducts instead. Either way it is basic-rate tax on the net rent — the rent less any allowable expenses that person paid on your behalf in the quarter — paid to HMRC within 30 days of the end of each tax quarter, with a certificate to you by 5 July.
Yes, with HMRC's approval. An individual applies on form NRL1 — online — and HMRC will not approve it if your UK tax affairs are not up to date. Approval means the agent or tenant pays you gross; it does not mean the income is untaxed. You still declare it on a Self Assessment return and pay whatever is due.
The company is your tenant. If it pays you more than £100 a week and you live abroad, HMRC's scheme puts the duty to deduct on it. That includes us. Apply for approval before you sign, and give us the approval reference — then the rent arrives in full, every month, as agreed.
For the agent or tenant it is a set of HMRC obligations of its own: register for the scheme (form NRL4 for an agent), work out basic-rate tax on the quarter’s net rent, pay it within 30 days of each quarter ending 30 June, 30 September, 31 December and 31 March, file the annual return NRLY and give the landlord certificate NRL6 by 5 July.
That is why a landlord abroad without approval is a landlord some agents and companies would rather not take on. The approval removes the work for everyone, including you.
This page says what the scheme is and what to file. It does not say whether you are UK tax resident, what a double-taxation treaty does to your position, or what you owe — those depend on your circumstances and on the country you live in.
HMRC is the authority on the scheme. A property accountant who works with overseas landlords can tell you what your return should say. How to check that an accountant is who they say they are.
An HMRC scheme for landlords who live outside the UK for six months or more a year. Unless HMRC has approved the landlord to receive rent gross, the letting agent — or a tenant paying more than £100 a week where there is no agent — deducts basic-rate income tax from the rent and pays it to HMRC each quarter. The landlord still declares the income on a Self Assessment return.
Yes. The scheme's test is whether you live abroad for six months or more a year, not whether you are UK tax resident. You can be resident for tax and still be a non-resident landlord for the scheme.
Apply to HMRC for approval — form NRL1 for an individual, NRL2 for a company, NRL3 for a trust. HMRC will not approve an application if your taxes are not up to date. Once approved, your agent or tenant pays you in full; you remain responsible for declaring the income and paying tax through Self Assessment.
Under a guaranteed rent lease the company is your tenant, and HMRC's scheme puts the duty to deduct on a tenant paying a landlord abroad more than £100 a week — unless you hold HMRC's approval to be paid gross. Apply for approval first and tell us the reference, and the rent arrives in full.
No. The 2% SDLT surcharge is a one-off charge when a non-UK resident buys residential property in England or Northern Ireland. The Non-resident Landlord Scheme is about income tax on rent, every quarter, for as long as you let while living abroad. Different tax, different test, different form.
Apply for HMRC’s approval first, then talk to us — with the approval reference, the rent we agree is the rent you receive. Without it, HMRC’s scheme has us deduct, and we would rather tell you that now than in the first month.
Disclaimer: This content is for educational purposes only and does not constitute tax advice. Tax rules are complex, change frequently, and depend on individual circumstances. Always consult a qualified accountant or tax advisor (ACCA, ICAEW, or CIOT qualified) before making tax-related decisions.
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