Glossary · UK
What is Let Property Campaign?
An HMRC voluntary disclosure route for residential landlords who have not declared all of their rental income, offering better terms than waiting to be investigated.
Full Definition
The Let Property Campaign is an ongoing HMRC voluntary disclosure facility aimed at individual landlords -- including those renting out a single property, multiple properties, a room under the Rent a Room Scheme above the tax-free limit, or a holiday let -- who have failed to declare all of their rental income and pay the tax due on it, whether through a genuine misunderstanding of the rules or a more deliberate failure to notify. Landlords who come forward under the campaign notify HMRC of their intention to disclose, then have a set period (usually 90 days) to calculate the tax, National Insurance and interest owed for all relevant years and submit a formal disclosure and payment. The main advantage of using the Let Property Campaign, rather than waiting for HMRC to open an enquiry off its own initiative, is that the penalty charged on top of the tax and interest owed is generally much lower -- often in the region of 0% to 20% of the tax due for an unprompted, non-deliberate disclosure, compared with penalties of up to 100% (or up to 200% for offshore matters) that can apply once HMRC has already identified the landlord through data-matching, such as data received from letting agents, mortgage lenders or the Land Registry. HMRC has significantly increased its ability to detect undeclared rental income in this way, including through the Non-Resident Landlord Scheme and, since 2024, income data reported by digital property platforms under the OECD's DAC7 reporting rules, making a voluntary disclosure an increasingly attractive option for landlords who know their tax affairs are not up to date.