The Renters Rights Act This year is a busy year for landlords; whether you are new to letting or have been doing it for decades, so much is changing.
The Renters Rights Act is being introduced on 1st May 2026 and will change almost every aspect of letting from advertising through to having to let your tenant go – or them giving in their notice.
In addition, we’ve just had the new rules about how landlords need to go about ensuring their properties achieve an EPC rating of C, which, if landlords haven’t already investigated or started to implement, will need to be understood sooner rather than later if let properties are going to be compliant by 2030 for new and existing tenancies.
And, last but by no means least, HMRC are asking those landlords who are eligible to record all their income and expenditure digitally. This applies if you are an individual registered for Self Assessment
- have income from self-employment or property, or a combination of the two
- have a qualifying and gross income of more than £50,000
Qualifying income refers to any money earned if you are employed (usually referred to as PAYE), a pension (private or state), profit shares or dividends.
Gross income means the money you earn before any deductions are made.
Making Tax Digital (MTD) for Income Tax – When Landlords Must Start
|
Start date |
Who it applies to |
Qualifying income threshold |
|---|---|---|
|
6 April 2026 |
Landlords and self-employed individuals |
Over £50,000 |
|
6 April 2027 |
Landlords and self-employed individuals |
Over £30,000 |
|
6 April 2028 |
Landlords and self-employed individuals |
Over £20,000 |
How do you share your income and expenses digitally with HMRC?
It's likely you are already working with an accountant or bookkeeper to help you track your income and expenditure. If so, check with them, as they are likely to ensure the information you provide is reported digitally. Make sure you ask in writing and receive a written answer so you can evidence this later if ever asked.
If you do your own books, you may already use a system such as Xero, QuickBooks, or landlord-specific software such as Hammock, and these and other systems you use should already have been recognised by HMRC so you can auto-submit your income and expenses digitally.
However, if you are using accounting software that hasn’t been recognised by HMRC yet or you do all your own calculations – and meet the criteria above – you will need to check the software will be registered in time or start to trial and choose an accounting system to be compliant.
How can Your Move help you share your income and expenses digitally?
One of the key services that we provide to landlords at Your Move is our LandlordPortal
The aim of this service is to enable you to access everything you need about your property 24/7, from viewings when a property is being let through to tracking a tenant's application and property maintenance issues.
When it comes to reporting your income and expenses, the LandlordPortal can also help support the switch to Making Tax Digital.
This is because it provides you with monthly statements on your income and any expenses we can track, such as fees and other letting costs, so you can view and download the information at any time, whether it's for your self-assessment tax returns or for reporting to new tracking software for HMRC.
You can even use the LandlordPortal on your mobile phone.
Need help to understand whether you are required to report income and expenditure to make tax digital and what you need to do? Your local lettings experts would love to help you transition to Making Tax Digital.
The Your Move Content Marketing Team
