News from 1 September 2026
Read the current Making Tax Digital guide.
Allowable property expenses declared by unincorporated UK landlords rose faster than rental income over the five years to 2024/25, according to HMRC. These are national figures for reported income and expenses; they do not show the profit of an individual property.
What the HMRC figures show
HMRC’s official statistics cover individuals and partnerships reporting UK property income through Income Tax Self Assessment. They exclude incorporated property businesses and people whose property income does not need to be reported through Self Assessment.
In 2024/25, 2.88 million unincorporated landlords declared £58.99 billion of property income. A total of 2.54 million, or 87.7%, declared at least one type of allowable expense, with expenses reaching £34.75 billion.
Across the five years from 2020/21, declared rental income increased by 26%, while declared expenses increased by 56%. On a simple comparison of the two totals, expenses were equivalent to about 59% of declared income in 2024/25, up from about 48% five years earlier. That ratio is a sector-level indicator, not a profit margin: different landlords make different claims, and HMRC notes that expenses can be declared even where no property income is declared in the same data.
The most recent annual movement was also notable. Total property income was broadly unchanged from 2023/24 at £58.99 billion, while total expenses rose by 11%. Average declared income per landlord reached £20,500, compared with average allowable expenses of £13,700.
Finance, repairs and professional fees dominate
Residential finance costs were the largest expense category by value, at £12.82 billion. Around 1.15 million landlords declared them, and they represented 37% of all expenses recorded in the release.
Repairs and maintenance were more widely claimed. About 1.92 million landlords, 66.2% of the unincorporated landlord population in the statistics, declared £6.41 billion in this category. Rent, rates and insurance totalled £3.81 billion, while legal, management and professional fees reached £4.16 billion.
These categories should not be read as a checklist of what is deductible in every case. Tax treatment depends on the nature of the cost and the landlord’s circumstances, and capital improvements are generally treated differently from day-to-day repairs. Landlords should use current HMRC guidance or seek suitably qualified tax advice where the treatment is unclear.
