The Let Property Campaign
Renting out a residential property in your own name? This is the route for you
HMRC’s principal route for individual residential landlords to put undeclared rental income right — explained end to end, from notifying HMRC to paying what’s owed. England & Wales.
Not you? If the property is held in a company or trust, or it’s commercial property, this isn’t your route — see the Digital Disclosure Service instead.
What it is, and who it’s for
The Let Property Campaign is the route HMRC created specifically for individual residential landlords who need to bring undeclared rental income up to date. If you own in your own name (or jointly) and you’ve let residential property without declaring all the income, this is almost certainly your route to disclose rental income and put things right.
Coming forward through it is treated far more favourably than waiting to be found. In particular, coming forward before HMRC contacts you (“unprompted”) usually means a lower penalty — and being open and helpful throughout keeps it lower still. Much of that is within your control.
One thing to watch with jointly-owned property — a home shared with a spouse, say: the rental income has to be split between you correctly. It affects each person’s figures, and it’s a common place to slip up.
Let Property Campaign eligibility — and the exceptions that need advice
The campaign is for individual residential landlords — including if you live abroad and let a UK home (some extra rules apply, so it’s worth taking advice, but the campaign still covers you). Some other situations, though, fall outside it and need a different route or specialist advice first:
- Property held through a company — a separate company (“corporate”) disclosure route applies instead.
- Commercial property (a shop, office or unit rather than a home) — the Let Property Campaign is for residential letting, so commercial premises are treated differently. Some holiday-let arrangements can be treated differently too, so check first.
- Buying and selling property as a business (trading, not letting) — a different tax treatment applies.
- Anything deliberate, or a letter mentioning COP9 (a serious fraud investigation) or the Contractual Disclosure Facility — do not use this route; get specialist advice first.
If one of these is you, the general Digital Disclosure Service is your route instead.
How does the Let Property Campaign work? The stages in order
Before the stages, one decision shapes everything: how many years, and why the income wasn’t declared. Whether it was an innocent mistake, carelessness, or deliberate makes a real difference — it affects how far back the disclosure must go and the Let Property Campaign penalties that apply. Importantly, you propose how many years to include when you come forward. Broadly, the more serious the behaviour, the further back you go. Getting this right, honestly, is the foundation of a complete disclosure.
Reassuringly, HMRC can’t reach back indefinitely. As a broad guide, a disclosure covers about 4 years for an honest mistake (where you took reasonable care), 6 years if you were careless, and up to 20 years if it was deliberate. Your own figure should be confirmed with a professional. With that settled, the campaign runs in five clear stages (the exact periods are set by HMRC and confirmed before they’re shown). These are all steps you can do yourself — HMRC designed the campaign to be used without an accountant, and the free tools here walk you through each stage.
1 · Notify
Notify HMRC — tell them you intend to make a disclosure under the campaign. (This is done through HMRC’s online Digital Disclosure Service, the system the campaign runs on.) It’s a short, simple step.
2 · Reference
HMRC issues a Disclosure Reference Number (DRN) — your unique reference for the disclosure.
3 · Time to prepare
You’re given a set period — currently 90 days from HMRC’s acknowledgement — to prepare a complete, accurate submission and pay what you owe. If you can’t pay it all by then, you must arrange Time to Pay with HMRC before the deadline.
4 · Disclose
Submit your disclosure — the income, the tax, and any interest and penalty, worked out year by year for each property — on your own terms. You sign and submit.
5 · Pay
Pay what’s owed — due within that same 90-day window. If paying it all at once would be a struggle, HMRC can often agree a “Time to Pay” arrangement to spread it over instalments, but you must set that up before the deadline. So worrying you can’t afford it shouldn’t stop you coming forward.
How to come out of this in the best position
A disclosure isn’t just about paying what’s owed — done well, it can cost you considerably less than done badly. These are the legitimate things that make the difference (all above-board — this is about paying the right amount, not dodging it):
- Come forward before HMRC contacts you. This is the big one, and it’s entirely in your hands. For an honest, careless error, a full unprompted disclosure can bring the penalty down to as little as 0%. Wait for a “nudge” letter and the same penalty can double or triple — and HMRC may look back 6 or even 20 years instead of 4. Acting first is the single biggest saving available to you.
- Claim every allowable cost. You’re taxed on the profit, not the rent. Letting-agent fees, repairs, insurance, ground rent, and your mortgage interest (as the Section 24 credit) all reduce the bill. People routinely over-pay simply by not claiming what they’re entitled to.
- Jointly owned? Split it properly. If you own with a spouse or partner, each of you discloses your share separately — so each uses their own personal allowance, and the income is split. That often means noticeably less tax overall than treating it as one person’s.
- Can’t pay it all at once? Ask for Time to Pay. HMRC can often spread the amount over instalments. Worrying about a lump sum shouldn’t stop you coming forward — arrange this before the deadline.
- Past losses aren’t wasted. If a property ran at a loss in some years, those losses can usually be carried forward and set against future rental profit — keep the figures, they have value.
Doing it yourself: what a Let Property Campaign disclosure actually involves
HMRC designed this to be done without an accountant, and for a straightforward case you genuinely can. Here’s the real shape of it, so you know what you’re taking on:
- Work out your years and behaviour. Decide how many years to include and why the income wasn’t declared (innocent, careless or deliberate) — this sets how far back you go and the penalty band. Be honest; it’s the foundation of everything.
- Rebuild the figures, year by year. For each property and year: the rent received, minus your allowable costs (agent fees, repairs, insurance, mortgage interest as the Section 24 credit). Bank statements, agent summaries and lender statements fill the gaps — the free tools here help you reconstruct them.
- Notify HMRC through the Digital Disclosure Service and get your Disclosure Reference Number (DRN). This starts your 90-day clock — it’s a short, simple online step.
- Work out the tax, interest and penalty for each year. HMRC’s own calculator helps with interest; the penalty depends on your behaviour and whether you came forward unprompted.
- Submit the disclosure and pay — or arrange Time to Pay — within the 90 days. You sign and submit: it’s always your disclosure.
Two landlords, same gap — very different outcomes
Meet two landlords (both made up, to show how it works). Each didn’t declare £8,000 of rental profit a year for four years, and each is a basic-rate taxpayer.
David waits. He ignores a nudge letter, hoping it’ll pass. HMRC opens a check, treats it as prompted, looks back further, and applies a higher penalty on top of the tax and interest. The gap has grown — and he’s had months of worry.
Susan comes forward. She makes a full, unprompted disclosure, claims the letting-agent fees and repairs she’d forgotten, and — as she owns jointly with her husband — they each disclose their half using their own allowance.
The outcome: Susan pays the tax she genuinely owes, a much smaller penalty (potentially nil on the careless element), and settles it calmly on a Time to Pay plan. She pays less, sooner, with none of the stress — purely because she acted first and claimed what she was due.
Illustrative only — figures and people are hypothetical, to show how the choices play out. Your own position depends on your circumstances and should be confirmed with a professional.
The records you’ll need
For each property, for each year, the disclosure is built from a few core things — and where papers are missing, they can usually be reconstructed:
- Rent received — from bank statements or letting-agent statements.
- Allowable costs — repairs, agent fees, insurance, and other allowable expenses.
- Mortgage interest — from your lender’s annual statements. Note that for individual landlords this is handled specially (see below).
A word on mortgage interest. This one trips a lot of people up. It used to be simple: you subtracted your mortgage interest from your rent before working out the tax. For individual landlords, that changed with a rule called “Section 24”.
Now you don’t subtract it. Instead, you get an amount knocked off your final tax bill — broadly 20% of the interest, though the exact figure depends on your income and profits, and can be less. Because the change came in gradually, an older year may be worked out differently from a recent one. It’s fiddly — which is exactly why the figures need a professional’s eye.
The Disclosure Workbench groups these exactly this way and helps you rebuild them, even years back. The Liability Estimator then shows an indicative range of what might be owed — a helpful guide to prepare with, not a final figure.
One caution: if HMRC ever asks you to sign a “certificate of tax position”, don’t sign it without understanding it — a signed certificate that isn’t true can be a criminal matter. See what your letter means →
In plain English: a quick jargon-buster
New to all this? Here’s what the key terms mean, in the plainest words.
- A “disclosure”
- Simply telling HMRC about rental income you didn’t declare before, and paying the tax owed on it. That’s all it is — putting the record straight.
- “Notify”
- The first step: telling HMRC you intend to make a disclosure. It’s short and simple, and it’s what starts the process.
- Disclosure Reference Number (DRN)
- A unique reference HMRC gives you after you notify, so they can match your disclosure to your notification. Keep it safe.
- “Allowable costs”
- The expenses you’re allowed to deduct from your rent before working out the tax — things like repairs, agent fees and insurance. (Mortgage interest is treated differently — see the note on records below.)
- “Deductible”
- An expense you’re allowed to subtract from your rent before the tax is worked out, which lowers the tax. Repairs and agent fees are deductible; since “Section 24”, mortgage interest for individuals is not (see below).
- “Basic-rate reduction”
- The way mortgage interest is now handled for individual landlords: instead of subtracting it from your rent, you get an amount knocked off your final tax bill — broadly 20% of the interest, though the exact figure depends on your income and profits. It can mean slightly more tax than the old way. There’s a plain explanation in the note further down.
- “Careless” and “deliberate”
- Not everyday words here — they’re HMRC’s categories for why tax was underpaid. An honest slip, being careless, or doing it deliberately each carry different penalties and let HMRC look back different numbers of years. Being honest about which applies to you matters.
- “Unprompted” disclosure
- Coming forward before HMRC contacts you. It’s treated more kindly, with lower penalties, than a “prompted” one made after they get in touch.
- “Trust”
- A legal arrangement where property is held by trustees for someone else’s benefit, rather than owned outright by an individual. If your property is in a trust, the Let Property Campaign isn’t the route.
- “Corporate disclosure route”
- The separate way a company (rather than an individual) puts undeclared tax right. If you let through a limited company, this is what applies to you instead of the campaign.
- COP9 & the “Contractual Disclosure Facility”
- COP9 is a serious fraud investigation by HMRC; the Contractual Disclosure Facility is the special route used in those cases. If a letter mentions either, don’t use this campaign — get specialist advice first.
- “Certificate of tax position”
- A form HMRC sometimes sends asking you to sign that your tax affairs are up to date. Never sign one you’re unsure about — signing something untrue can be a criminal matter.
You’ve got this
This is fixable — and coming forward is the strong, sensible move, not a weak one.
Undeclared rental income feels frightening, but it’s one of the most common tax situations there is, and it has a clear, well-trodden way out. You don’t have to have it all worked out today. You just have to start.
And the honest bit: doing nothing doesn’t make it go away. If HMRC finds the gap before you come forward, the penalty is higher and you have far less control. Coming forward first is almost always the cheaper, calmer path — which is exactly why it’s the strong move.
- You stay in control — you sign, you decide
- Coming forward means the best terms
- One step at a time, at your pace
Whenever you’re ready, the first step is simply to gather what you have and see where you stand. For a straightforward disclosure, the tools take you through the whole thing yourself — no finance background needed. Where a case is genuinely complex (a company, a trust, a possible trader question, or a very large or long-running one), that’s where a professional earns their fee — and we’re here if you want that, or if you’d simply rather not do it alone. It’s your choice.
Ready to put your rental income right? Send us the details
This is fixable — and you can do a lot of it yourself. There’s no charge to make contact and no obligation. The more you tell us, the better we can prepare.