HMRC plans to get rental data from letting agents and tenancy deposit schemes more often, and with tax identifiers attached. Its consultation, published on 28 October 2026 alongside Budget 2026, proposes covering all landlord types, with no minimum amount. It is still in design: the consultation runs to 20 January 2027, and it gives no start date.
What happens today
HMRC issues over 10,000 notices a year asking letting agents and deposit schemes for property income data. Data is asked for once a year, linked to the tax year, and supplied within 60 days. HMRC says it is often incomplete, hard to match to the right taxpayer and arrives too late to act on. It already uses this data in compliance work, including the Let Property Campaign.
What HMRC proposes
- A standing duty to report. Under the framework in Schedule 23 of Finance Act 2026, agents and deposit schemes would report regularly with no notice needed. The details will be in secondary legislation.
- More often. The government intends to move from yearly reporting and asks whether monthly or quarterly is right.
- Sooner. It intends to shorten the 60 day window and asks about one month, two weeks or shorter.
- Tax identifiers. It intends agents and schemes to request and report them for new landlord relationships and newly registered deposits. They may include your National Insurance number, company number, VAT number or Unique Taxpayer Reference.
- No minimum. The new duties are to apply with no minimum amount, so one small let counts.
- All landlord types. Individuals, companies, partnerships and trusts are proposed to be covered.
What could be reported
HMRC gets names and addresses now. The consultation lists possible extra fields, which it says are not settled: landlord type, date of birth, tenancy start and end dates, gross rental income, management fees, expenses or other deductions, and property identifiers, including landlord identifiers from the new PRS database. HMRC says it is working with the housing department so that this reporting is considered together with the landlord register.
Who is left out
Reporting would focus on private residential lettings. Agents acting for landlords whose usual home is outside the UK are excluded, because they already report under the Non-Resident Landlord Scheme. HMRC's existing powers carry on for data outside the new duties, such as commercial property. The consultation also proposes targeted exclusions where the data would have no tax use, and asks what they should be.
If you manage your own lets
The agent duties do not reach you directly. But deposit schemes are in scope as well, and HMRC says it will consider this reporting together with the landlord register, so self-managing does not mean HMRC cannot see a let.
What it means for Making Tax Digital
HMRC links this directly to MTD. It says more timely data could support digital services that give prompts and feedback on quarterly updates and year-end reporting. Our reading is that the figures you send and the figures your agent reports are more likely to be compared. If your agent deducts fees before paying you, remember that your records should show the gross rent and the fee as an expense. Our guide to MTD with a letting agent covers that in detail, and MTD for landlords in April 2027 covers who joins next.
What to do now
- Ask your agent for a statement each quarter, and check it against your own records.
- Have your National Insurance number or other tax identifier ready, as agents may have to ask for it.
- If you have rent you have not declared, read about the Let Property Campaign and take advice now.
- Letting agents and landlords can reply to the consultation by email to thirdpartydata@hmrc.gov.uk by 11:59pm on 20 January 2027.
We make VoxaMTD, which keeps your rent and expenses as digital records and sends MTD quarterly updates. See rent tracking or read the rest of Budget 2026 for landlords.
Sources
- Improving Property Income Data Reporting: consultation page (GOV.UK), read on 4 November 2026.
- Improving Property Income Data Reporting: design and implementation (GOV.UK), read on 4 November 2026.
- Budget 2026 document (GOV.UK), read on 4 November 2026.
This guide is general information, not tax advice. The proposals may change after the consultation.