What is Gross rent?
Last verified 4 November 2026
Gross rent is the full rent a tenant owes or pays, before letting agent fees, repairs, insurance or any other cost is deducted. It is the opposite of net rent, which is what reaches your bank after those costs.
Why it matters to landlords
Making Tax Digital measures your qualifying income before expenses, so a landlord who is paid net by a letting agent still has to work out the gross figure. HMRC's guidance on digital records says that if you only know your income after expenses, you should ask for the full amount before expenses, record that as income, and record the expenses separately.
Gross rent also matters for your quarterly update, which reports rent as income and fees and repairs as expenses in their own categories. Recording only the net payment makes both totals wrong, even when the profit comes out the same.
Example
A landlord is paid £3,500 a month by an agent after £400 of fees and £100 of repairs. The gross rent is £4,000 a month, which is £48,000 a year, and that is the figure that counts towards the threshold.
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