Property rental income statistics: 2024 (2024)

1. Key points

The key points for property rental income statistics are:

• the total number of unincorporated landlords that declared income from renting property in 2022 to 2023 was 2.84 million

• of these 2.84 million unincorporated landlords, 88.1% claimed some form of expenses

• property income is concentrated in London. In 2022 to 2023, 17% of unincorporated landlords were based in London, accounting for 24% of property income for unincorporated landlords

2. Overview

This Official Statistics publication includes information on income and expenses from renting property from HM Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC) Income Tax Self Assessment (ITSA) returns data only. Entities that do not submit ITSA returns, such as incorporated businesses with property income or individuals with property income that falls below the threshold for inclusion in ITSA, are therefore not included in this release.

This publication covers taxpayers that receive income from renting property that is declared via ITSA. It does not contain information on tenants, or on income received from buying and selling properties.

This release covers data from the last 5 available tax years, from 2018 to 2019 to 2022 to 2023.

These statistics are subject to revision, with the next release in Autumn 2025.

Statistical contacts: Karim Secker and Madeleine Bishop

Media enquiries: HMRC Press Office

The underlying data for all tables and figures in this publication can be found in the Property income statistics tables

3. Income from all UK property

UK property income can be declared on ITSA returns by a variety of different tax entities. The most common type of landlord of UK rental property is private individuals, who account for the majority of rental income declared.

Table 1: Property income declared in 2022 to 2023 by type of tax entity

The key points from Table 1 are:

• in 2022 to 2023, 2.84 million unincorporated landlords declared income from renting property

• of these, 99% were individuals declaring property income as part of their Self Assessment tax return

• in 2022 to 2023, individuals accounted for £44.7 billion in property income

Figure 1: Total rental income declared by unincorporated landlords, 2018 to 2019 to 2022 to 2023

Figure 1 demonstrates a stable, slightly increasing, trend between 2018 to 2019 and 2022 to 2023:

• total income from UK property increased by £1.34 billion, or 3% in the 5 years between 2018 to 2019 and 2022 to 2023, driven by an increase in both average property income and the number of individuals reporting property income, which increased to 2.84 million in 2022 to 2023 from 2.77 million in 2018 to 2019

• total property income declared by unincorporated landlords fell slightly in 2022 to 2023, from £47.44 billion, compared with £49.4 billion in 2021 to 2022

The underlying data for figure 1 can be found in the Property income statistics tables

Figure 2: Average rental income per landlord declared by unincorporated landlords, 2018 to 2019 to 2022 to 2023

Figure 2 demonstrates a stable, slightly increasing, trend in average property rental income between 2018 to 2019 and 2022 to 2023:

• average income from UK property remained relatively stable at around £16,800 between 2018 to 2019 and 2022 to 2023

• over the 5 year period between 2018 to 2019 and 2022 to 2023, the lowest average annual UK property income was £16,600 in 2020 to 2021, and the highest was £17,300 in 2021 to 2022

The underlying data for figure 2 can be found in the Property income statistics tables

4. Income from UK furnished holiday lettings

Income from UK furnished holiday lettings can be declared on ITSA returns and represents a small group relative to the overall landlord population size. Note UK furnished holiday lettings only are within scope of this publication. Non-UK furnished holiday lettings are excluded from the numbers provided.

Table 2: Number of furnished holiday lettings and income declared in 2022 to 2023

The key points from Table 2 are:

• in 2022 to 2023, 0.13 million unincorporated landlords declared furnished holiday letting income as part of their Self Assessment tax return

• in 2022 to 2023, UK furnished holiday lettings accounted for £2.29 billion in property income which is 5% of the UK rental market income

Figure 3: Total furnished holiday lettings income declared by unincorporated landlords, 2018 to 2019 to 2022 to 2023

Figure 3 demonstrates an upwards trend between 2018 to 2019 and 2022 to 2023:

• total income from UK furnished holiday lettings increased by 67% in the 5 years between 2018 to 2019 and 2022 to 2023, driven by an increase in both average furnished holiday lettings income and the number of individuals reporting furnished holiday letting income

• total income from UK furnished holiday lettings in 2022 to 2023 was £2.29 billion, compared with £2.50 billion in 2021 to 2022

The underlying data for figure 3 can be found in the Property income statistics table

5. Expenses from all UK property

Unincorporated landlords declare allowable expenses to HMRC that are specific to their property business. There are several categories of allowable expenses, which are typically declared separately to one another.

Table 3: Allowable expenses declared in 2022 to 2023 by category

The key points from Table 3 are:

• the most common category of expenses declared against property income are rent, rates and insurance and repairs and maintenance, with 66.7% of unincorporated landlords declaring expenses of these types

• the largest category of expense by amount declared is residential finance costs, with £6.87 billion being claimed in 2022 to 2023. This accounts for 30% of all expenses claimed against UK property income by unincorporated landlords

• of the total population of unincorporated landlords, 88.1% declared some form of expenses

Figure 4: Total property expenses declared by unincorporated landlords, 2018 to 2019 to 2022 to 2023

Figure 4 demonstrates a steady trend in property expenses declared between 2018 to 2019 and 2022 to 2023, with a drop in 2020 to 2021 which recovered in 2021 to 2022:

• total expenses declared by unincorporated landlords increased by 3% in the 5 years between 2018 to 2019 and 2022 to 2023

• total expenses declared by unincorporated landlords increased by3 % between 2021 to 2022 and 2022 to 2023

• the highest total allowable expenses from UK property between 2018 to 2019 and 2022 to 2023 was £22.98 billion in 2022 to 2023, and the lowest was £21.54 billion in 2020 to 2021

• total property expenses declared in 2020 to 2021 was lower than in the previous 2 and subsequent 2 years, driven by a decrease in both the average allowable property expenses declared, and the number of tax entities declaring property expenses

The underlying data for figure 4 can be found in the Property income statistics tables

Figure 5: Average property expenses declared per landlord by unincorporated landlords, 2018 to 2019 to 2022 to 2023

Figure 5 demonstrates a stable trend between 2018 to 2019 and 2022 to 2023, there was a drop in 2020 to 2021 which recovered in 2021 to 2022:

• average expenses declared by unincorporated landlords has remained around £9,000

• the highest average allowable expenses from UK property between 2018 to 2019 and 2022 to 2023 was £9,200 in 2022 to 2023, and the lowest was £8,600 in 2020 to 2021

• the average allowable expenses from UK property fell from £9,100 in 2019 to 2020, to £8,600 in 2020 to 2021

The underlying data for figure 5 can be found in the Property income statistics tables

6. Regional analysis

Income and Expenses from UK property are broken down by geographical region based on the landlord’s postcode. The majority of UK rental property income and expenses are declared by landlords in London and the South East.

The regional breakdown is based on the registered taxpayer address. This may not be the area where the property is located, which cannot be determined using Self Assessment tax administration data.

Figure 6: Total property income declared by unincorporated landlords by region of taxpayer address, 2022 to 2023

Figure 7: Number of unincorporated landlords reporting property income by region of taxpayer address, 2022 to 2023

Figures 6 and 7 show a regional breakdown of property income for 2022 to 2023:

• in 2022 to 2023, 17% of all unincorporated landlords that declared income from a UK property were based in London. They account for 24% of all income declared from UK property income by unincorporated landlords

• in 2022 to 2023, 33% of all unincorporated landlords that declared income from a UK property were based in London or the South East combined. They account for 41% of all income declared from UK property income by unincorporated landlords

• Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland accounted for 3%, 5% and 2% of total property income respectively

• of the regions in England, the North East accounted for the smallest proportion of property income, at 2%

The underlying data for figures 6 and 7 can be found in the Property income statistics tables

Figure 8: Total property expenses declared by unincorporated landlords by region of taxpayer address, 2022 to 2023

Figure 9: Number of unincorporated landlords declaring property expenses by region of taxpayer address, 2022 to 2023

Figures 8 and 9 show a regional breakdown of allowable property expenses for 2022 to 2023:

• in 2022 to 2023, 18% of all unincorporated landlords that declared allowable expenses from a UK property were based in London. They account for 26% of all allowable expenses declared from UK property income by unincorporated landlords

• in 2022 to 2023, 35% of all unincorporated landlords that declared allowable expenses from a UK property were based in London or the South East combined. They account for 43% of all allowable expenses declared from UK property income by unincorporated landlords

• Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland accounted for 3%, 4% and 2% of total property expenses respectively

• of the regions in England, the North East accounted for the smallest proportion of property expenses, at 2%

The underlying data for figures 8 and 9 can be found in the Property income statistics tables

7. Distribution of property income

The number of taxpayers declaring UK property income is broken down by income bracket based on the landlord’s income from property. The majority of landlords declare property income of below £10,000 per year. The income distribution is based only on property income. Landlords may have other forms of income, which are not included here.

Figure 10: Number of taxpayers split by property income band in, 2022 to 2023

Figure 10 shows a distributional analysis for the UK landlord population in 2022 to 2023:

• 1.47 million earned between £0 and £10,000 of property income in 2022 to 2023
• this represents 52% of all unincorporated landlords

The underlying data for figure 10 can be found in the Property income statistics tables