Renting out or selling your UK home while you live abroad
Living abroad? Your letting agent takes 20% of your rent for tax, which can be more than you owe. Selling? Only the gain since 5 April 2015 is taxed, and you must report it within 60 days.
Your answer
Tell us your rent, or the sale price, what you paid and how long you owned it.
About this calculator
For people living abroad who let out or sell a home in the UK: the tax taken off the rent against the tax really owed, or the Capital Gains Tax when you sell.
What happens to your answers
We don’t keep them. Your answers go to our server to do the sums and aren’t stored or logged. If you copy a link to your answers, they’re in the link itself, so only share it with people you trust.
How it’s worked out
Renting it out: if you live abroad for 6 months or more, your letting agent, or a tenant paying more than £100 a week, must take 20% off the rent for tax (the Non-resident Landlords Scheme), after costs the agent pays but never mortgage interest. HMRC can approve you to get the rent in full (form NRL1). The tax you really owe is worked out on your tax return: your rental profit on top of your other UK income, with the tax-free allowance if you're a British or EEA citizen, less a 20% credit for mortgage interest. We compare the two for 2026/27.
Selling it: non-residents pay Capital Gains Tax on UK homes. If you owned it on 5 April 2015, only the gain since then is taxed, worked out from its value that day, or by sharing the whole gain by time, or over the whole time you owned it. We show all three and use the lowest. The share of the time it was your home, plus the final 9 months, is tax-free (Private Residence Relief). You must report the sale within 60 days of completion, even with no tax to pay.
Worked example
You'd get about £800 a year back: your letting agent takes £3,000 off the rent for tax, but you only owe £2,200.
Renting it out · letting agent · tax-free allowance · 2026/27 rates, England and NI bands
| Rent a year (your share) | £18,000 |
|---|---|
| Running costs (not mortgage interest) | − £3,000 |
| Rental profit | £15,000 |
| Tax your letting agent takes off: 20% of £15,000 (rent less the costs they pay) | £3,000 |
| Your other UK income | £20,000 |
| Tax-free allowance | £12,570 |
| Income tax on the rental profit, on top of your other UK income | £3,000 |
| Less 20% credit for mortgage interest | − £800 |
| Tax you owe on the rent | £2,200 |
| Refund due (tax taken off less tax owed) | £800 |
Based on HMRC's guidance on the Non-resident Landlords Scheme and 2026/27 income tax rates (6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027).
Questions people ask
Can I stop my letting agent taking 20% off?
Yes, by applying to HMRC on form NRL1. HMRC approves you if your UK tax is up to date, you've never had UK tax to deal with, or you don't expect to owe UK tax for the year. You then pay any tax through your tax return.
Do I have to tell HMRC I sold if there's no tax?
Yes. A non-resident must report every sale of UK property within 60 days of completion, even with no tax to pay or a loss.
Does my old home still count as my main home while I'm abroad?
Only for tax years you spent at least 90 nights there. The final 9 months you owned it count anyway, if it was your home at some point.
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