If you are a landlord who has not declared all your rental income to HMRC, the Let Property Campaign (LPC) offers you a structured and legally recognised route to put your tax affairs right. Acting voluntarily now means lower penalties, faster resolution, and the peace of mind that comes with full compliance.
What Is the HMRC Let Property Campaign?
The Let Property Campaign is an ongoing HMRC initiative that allows individual residential property landlords to voluntarily disclose previously unreported rental income from past tax years. Launched in 2013, the campaign was introduced after HMRC estimated that up to 1.5 million landlords had underpaid or failed to pay the correct amount of tax on their rental earnings. The core principle is straightforward: come forward before HMRC contacts you, and you will benefit from significantly reduced penalties and a more straightforward resolution of your tax affairs.
How Does HMRC Find Out About Undisclosed Rental Income?
HMRC gathers data from a wide range of sources to identify individuals who may have unreported rental income, including letting agents, HM Land Registry, council records, mortgage applications, and short-term letting platforms such as Airbnb . In recent years, HMRC has significantly increased its use of advanced data-matching technology and data-sharing agreements . If your details appear in any of these records but you have not submitted corresponding rental income on a Self Assessment tax return, you are likely to receive a “nudge letter” from HMRC inviting you to participate in the campaign .
Who Can Use the Let Property Campaign?
The LPC is open to individual landlords with undisclosed income from letting residential properties . According to the official HMRC guidance, this includes landlords renting out a single property or multiple properties, holiday lettings, renting a room above the Rent a Room Scheme threshold, and those who have inherited a residential property and are letting it out . Landlords letting commercial properties only, companies, and trusts cannot use this route and must seek alternative disclosure methods .
Steps to Make a Let Property Campaign Disclosure
Making a disclosure under the LPC follows a clear five-stage process :
- Notify HMRC via the Digital Disclosure Service (DDS), confirming your intent to disclose without needing to provide any financial figures at this stage
- Receive your Disclosure Reference Number (DRN) and Payment Reference Number (PRN) from HMRC by post
- Calculate what you owe within 90 days of your notification acknowledgement, covering all undisclosed rental profits, tax at the applicable rates, statutory interest, and self-assessed penalties
- Submit your full disclosure and pay the total amount owed by the 90-day deadline; if you cannot pay in full, contact the Let Property Campaign Helpline before submitting to arrange a Time to Pay agreement
- Register for Self Assessment going forward and report all rental income accurately on annual tax returns
How Many Years Does Your Disclosure Cover?
The look-back period depends entirely on the reason income was not declared :
- Reasonable Care (up to 4 years): Genuine mistakes made despite taking care; typically 0% penalty for unprompted disclosure
- Careless (up to 6 years): Negligence or oversight; unprompted penalties range from 0% to 30%
- Deliberate (up to 20 years): Knowing failure to declare or deliberate misleading of HMRC; penalties from 20% to 100%
- Failure to Notify: Never registering for Self Assessment at all also carries a 20-year look-back
For offshore rental income, look-back periods can be longer and penalties can reach up to 200% of the unpaid tax .
How Are Penalties Calculated?
Penalties are charged as a percentage of the unpaid tax and depend on your behaviour and whether the disclosure is unprompted or prompted :
| Behaviour | Unprompted | Prompted |
|---|---|---|
| Reasonable Care | 0% | 0% to 30% |
| Careless | 0% to 30% | 15% to 30% |
| Deliberate | 20% to 70% | 35% to 70% |
| Deliberate and Concealed | 30% to 100% | 50% to 100% |
The key takeaway is that notifying HMRC before they contact you locks in unprompted status and delivers the maximum penalty reduction . HMRC further reduces penalties based on how openly and fully you cooperate throughout the process, referred to as “telling, helping, and giving” .
What If You No Longer Have All Your Records?
Missing records are common, particularly for landlords disclosing income from many years ago . HMRC accepts reasonable estimates where records are genuinely unavailable, but you must document your methodology and be transparent about what figures are estimated . If bank statements are unavailable, HMRC recommends contacting your bank as early as possible, and using more recent statements as a guide for earlier periods where necessary . Failure to maintain proper records going forward can itself attract penalties of up to £3,000 .
What Happens After HMRC Receives Your Disclosure?
HMRC will acknowledge your disclosure within two weeks and then conduct internal checks on completeness and accuracy . If satisfied, HMRC issues a formal acceptance letter confirming your affairs are in order for the disclosed period . If your disclosure is materially incorrect or incomplete, HMRC may reject it and issue their own assessments with significantly higher penalties . In exceptional circumstances, an incomplete or deliberately misleading disclosure can be referred under HMRC’s Criminal Investigation Policy .
How UK Property Tax Accountants Can Help
UK Property Tax Accountants specialises in advising residential landlords through every stage of the LPC process:
- Initial assessment of which years require inclusion and correct behaviour categorisation to minimise look-back period and penalties
- Accurate disclosure calculations covering rental profits, allowable expenses, tax liabilities, interest, and penalties, ensuring no reliefs are missed
- Disclosure narrative drafting to present your circumstances clearly and maximise HMRC’s willingness to accept on favourable terms
- Agent representation handling all HMRC correspondence on your behalf and responding promptly to any queries
- Time to Pay negotiation where full upfront payment is not possible, protecting you from further enforcement action
- Future compliance support including Self Assessment registration and accurate annual reporting of all rental income
Whether your situation involves one property or many, overseas income, or incomplete historical records, our team provides the expertise to resolve your disclosure efficiently and on the best available terms.
Frequently Asked Questions:
What if HMRC has already contacted me?
You can still participate, but your disclosure will be treated as prompted, meaning higher minimum penalty rates apply. Act immediately to limit further exposure .
Does the campaign cover Airbnb and holiday let income?
Yes. Holiday lettings and short-term rentals through platforms such as Airbnb are within scope, provided the property is residential .
What if my rental property made a loss in some years?
Years in which allowable expenses exceeded rental income do not generate a tax liability and do not need to be included in your disclosure, though losses may be carried forward to offset future rental profits .
Can I disclose on behalf of a deceased relative?
Yes, as the personal representative or executor, you can make a disclosure on behalf of a deceased person and may be asked to provide evidence of your authority to act .
