Accountants for UK Landlords and Property Investors
NDCA is an accountant for landlords and property investors UK based, covering Section 24, capital gains tax and incorporation planning. Most landlords did not get into property because they wanted a tax return. They wanted an asset. The tax return is the part nobody warned them about — and the rules keep moving. Section 24 closed the door on full mortgage interest relief for individual landlords. Capital gains on residential property must be reported within 60 days of completion. Furnished holiday let advantages were abolished in April 2025. And Making Tax Digital for Income Tax is now live for landlords with gross rental income above the current threshold, with that threshold being phased down over time.
We handle all of it.
We are an ACCA-regulated accountancy practice working with UK landlords, property investors and SPV companies, working primarily on Xero.
We charge a fixed monthly fee so your tax position is managed all year — not panicked over in January.
Contact us today for a free consultation to walk through your situation.
Property income we handle
Rental income is not one thing. Different income streams have different tax treatments, different reporting rules, and different MTD positions. The most common we see:
- Residential rental income — taxed as property income or as trading income inside a company
Furnished holiday let income — now taxed as standard rental income (FHL regime withdrawn)
- Commercial rental income — option-to-tax VAT implications
- Rent-a-room income — £7,500 annual allowance
- Premiums and lease assignments — part capital, part income
- Service charges and ground rents — separately reportable in some structures
- Forfeited deposits and dilapidations — taxable in the year received
- Overseas rental income — foreign pages, double tax relief available
Each of these has its own rules. We apply the right treatment to each income source on your return.
What can a landlord claim as an allowable expense?
This is the single biggest area where landlords either overpay tax or claim things they should not. The rule is simple in principle: expenses are allowable if they are incurred wholly and exclusively for the rental business. The application is where it gets tricky.
- Running costs — letting agent fees, ground rent and service charges, council tax during void periods, buildings and contents insurance
- Repairs and upkeep — like-for-like repairs and maintenance, replacement of domestic items (sofas, white goods), cleaning and gardening between tenancies
- Professional costs — legal fees for tenancies under one year or renewals, accountancy fees, landlord body membership
- Finding tenants — advertising, tenant referencing, inventory checks
- Travel — genuine business journeys to and from the property
Not allowable (capital — added to base cost for capital gains instead):
- Improvements that go beyond restoring the property to its original condition (extensions, new kitchens that are an upgrade, loft conversions)
- The original purchase price and acquisition costs (stamp duty, legal fees on purchase)
- Personal-use portion of any expense
- Mortgage capital repayments — only the interest portion is potentially relevant, and is subject to Section 24 restrictions
Subject to special rules:
- Mortgage interest — for individual landlords with residential property, only a 20% basic-rate tax credit, not a deductible expense
- Wear and tear — the old 10% allowance was abolished in 2016 and replaced with the replacement of domestic items relief
- Pre-letting expenses — allowable in the first year of letting if incurred within seven years of starting
The line between “repair” and “improvement” is where most disputes happen. Replacing a worn-out kitchen with a similar one is a repair. Replacing it with a high-end fitted kitchen is partly a repair and partly an improvement. We apply the right split to every expense as it comes in.
The tax issues that catch landlords out
Property tax is its own world. The rules differ depending on how you hold the property, how many you own, who you share them with, and what you do with them. The issues we handle most often:
Section 24 mortgage interest restriction
Mortgage interest is no longer a deductible expense for individual residential landlords.
For property held personally, you receive a 20% basic-rate tax credit on the interest instead of a full deduction. For a higher-rate taxpayer with a leveraged portfolio, this changes the after-tax return on every property. We model the impact and advise on whether incorporation is worth considering for your situation.
Capital gains on property disposals
Residential property gains must be reported and paid within 60 days of completion.
The gain is calculated on the difference between sale price and original cost, less acquisition costs, capital improvements and the annual exempt amount (currently £3,000 per individual). UK residential property is taxed at 18% (basic rate) or 24% (higher rate) since 6 April 2024. Private Residence Relief and Letting Relief apply where you have lived in the property. We prepare the 60-day return and tie it into your annual self assessment.
Jointly-owned property
The default split of rental income is not always the right one for tax.
Property owned jointly is split 50/50 by default for spouses and civil partners. Other joint owners are split by ownership percentage. The default can be overridden using Form 17 for married couples or a deed of trust for other arrangements. The split affects who falls inside MTD and who falls outside. We model the options and document the position.
Furnished holiday lets
The Furnished Holiday Letting (FHL) regime was abolished from 6 April 2025 for income tax (1 April 2025 for corporation tax). The old advantages — full mortgage interest relief, capital allowances on furniture and equipment, Business Asset Disposal Relief on sale — have all gone. Income from former FHL properties is now treated as standard property income, meaning mortgage interest is restricted to a 20% basic-rate credit (same as buy-to-let), and capital allowances are no longer available on new expenditure. If you previously relied on FHL treatment, your tax position has changed and your return needs updating. We model the impact and adjust your reporting.
SPV and limited company property structures
Holding property through a company changes everything — for better or worse.
Limited company landlords get full mortgage interest relief, pay corporation tax instead of income tax on profits, and have to plan dividend extraction carefully. The compliance burden is higher: statutory accounts, corporation tax returns, director self assessment. The trade-off is usually worth it for higher-rate taxpayers with leverage and for landlords building portfolios. We prepare statutory accounts, CT600 returns and director personal returns for property SPVs.
Stamp Duty Land Tax surcharges
Buy-to-let purchases attract a 5% surcharge above the standard SDLT rates.
Additional properties bought on or after 31 October 2024 are subject to a 5% surcharge on top of the standard SDLT rate at every band (up from the previous 3% surcharge).
The surcharge applies to second homes, buy-to-lets, and properties bought by companies. We model the SDLT cost as part of any portfolio acquisition planning.
Non-UK resident buyers face an additional 2% SDLT surcharge on top, which can stack with the 5% additional property surcharge to produce effective rates of up to 7% above the standard SDLT bands. We model the position for cross-border clients.
Making Tax Digital for landlords
The biggest compliance change in years. Landlords with qualifying rental income above the current MTD threshold fall into MTD for Income Tax, with the threshold being phased down over time.
For most landlords, this means:
- Moving from spreadsheets and paper records to HMRC-compatible software
- Keeping records up to date throughout the year, not at the end of it
- Submitting four quarterly updates plus a final declaration per income source (UK property, FHL, overseas property and self-employment are each separate)
- Reporting jointly-owned property at the right ownership percentage on each owner’s return
NDCA gets landlords on Xero before the deadline, sets up the property schedules correctly, and runs the quarterly submissions for you. Check whether you’re in scope on gov.uk, or see our Making Tax Digital page for the full rule set.
How NDCA works
Three things make our service different for landlords specifically.
- Fixed monthly fee
You pay one price every month for everything we agreed at the start — bookkeeping, MTD submissions, year-end work, self assessment, capital gains returns when they happen. No clock-watching, no per-form charges. Landlord packages start from £40 per month, and we confirm your exact fixed fee before you join. - A real human, fast
You get a named accountant who knows your portfolio, not a ticket queue. Most questions get a reply within one working day. - Built around the property cycle
Property tax does not work on a calendar. It works on completion dates, rent review dates, tenant changes, mortgage refinances and disposal events. We build the rhythm around when those things happen, not around a fixed April-to-April cycle.
The software we use: Xero and Apron
Xero is the only bookkeeping platform we run for landlords. That matters.
Each property is set up as a tracking category in Xero, so rental income, expenses and net profit are visible property-by-property — not lumped together. Live bank feeds mean rent is reconciled the day it arrives. And under MTD, Xero is fully HMRC-recognised, so quarterly submissions go straight from your records to HMRC with no spreadsheet workaround.
Xero is the only bookkeeping platform we run for landlords. Each property is set up as its own tracking category, so rental income, expenses and net profit are visible property-by-property, not lumped together. Live bank feeds mean rent is reconciled the day it arrives, and Xero is fully HMRC-recognised for MTD, so quarterly submissions go straight from your records with no spreadsheet workaround. If you’re not yet on Xero, we migrate you across as part of onboarding.
For paperwork — repair invoices, materials receipts, agent fees, insurance renewals — we use Apron. Forward an invoice to your dedicated Apron email address or snap a photo of a receipt, and the supplier, date, amount, VAT and line items are extracted straight into Xero.
Buying, selling or refinancing a property?
The tax position changes with every transaction — Section 24, capital gains, SDLT surcharges, MTD. Send us your portfolio details — we will come back within one working day with a fixed monthly quote.
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Switching from another accountant
If you already have an accountant and you are not happy, switching is simpler than people think. We send your current accountant a professional clearance letter, collect your records, and pick up where they left off. Most landlord clients are fully on-boarded within two weeks.
You do not need to wait for year-end. You do not need an awkward phone call. We handle it.
Accountant for landlords and property investors UK: FAQs
Not strictly, but most single-property landlords still benefit from having one. The Section 24 calculation, the allowable expenses rules, capital gains on disposal, and the upcoming MTD threshold drops all catch landlords out. An accountant pays for themselves in the year you sell, the year you remortgage, or the year MTD applies.
MTD for Income Tax went live on 6 April 2026 for landlords whose gross rental income — combined with any self-employment income — exceeds the qualifying threshold. The threshold started at £50,000, drops to £30,000 from 6 April 2027, and £20,000 from 6 April 2028. Even single-property landlords will likely be in scope within the next two tax years.
For individual landlords holding residential property personally, no — mortgage interest is no longer a deductible expense. Instead, you receive a 20% basic-rate tax credit on the interest. The restriction does not apply to commercial property or to limited company landlords.
It depends on your tax rate, your leverage, whether you plan to keep or sell, and whether you plan to extract income or reinvest. For higher-rate taxpayers with leveraged residential property, the company route often produces a better after-tax outcome. For lower-rate taxpayers, or landlords planning to sell in the near future, holding personally is usually better. We model both options before recommending a structure.
The gain is the difference between sale price and original cost, less acquisition costs, capital improvements and the annual exempt amount (currently £3,000 per individual). UK residential property gains are taxed at 18% (basic rate) or 24% (higher rate). The gain must be reported and the tax paid within 60 days of completion, and the gain is reported again on your annual self assessment.
Letting agent fees, insurance, ground rent, service charges, repairs, replacement of domestic items, cleaning, advertising, accountancy fees, travel for genuine business reasons, and council tax during void periods are all allowable. Improvements, the original purchase price, and the personal-use portion of any expense are not. Mortgage interest is subject to Section 24 restrictions for individual residential landlords.
Yes. Rental losses must be reported and can be carried forward against future rental profits of the same property business. Losses cannot be set against other income (like employment or self-employment), but they reduce your tax in later profitable years.
Yes. NDCA is regulated by the ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants).
We are remote-first. We work with landlords and property investors across the UK using Xero, so location does not matter.
Yes. Book one on 01903 968618 or via the contact form.
Ready to hand over your property tax?
Most landlord clients hand over the rental records once a year and we handle everything from there — Section 24, capital gains on sales, MTD submissions, year-end. Send us a few details — we will come back within one working day with a fixed monthly quote.
