Editor's note: This brief was summarised by The Property AI Newsroom from a report by Mortgage Solutions. Read the original article for full details.

HMRC: Landlord Rental Income Plateaus at £59bn in 2024-25

UK landlord rental income totalled £58.9bn in 2024-25, according to HMRC data, remaining largely unchanged from the previous year’s £59bn. The figures show a plateau after several years of growth since 2020.

The HMRC data reveals that from 2020 to 2021, total income from UK property increased by 26%, or £12.3bn, driven by higher average property income and more people reporting property income. The number of individuals and partnerships declaring property income rose from 2.81 million in 2020-21 to 2.88 million in 2024-25.

Unincorporated landlords collected an average of £20,500 in property income in 2024-25, the highest average in five years. This represents a £3,900 increase since 2020-21. Of those declaring income, around 1.3 million landlords had rental earnings of £10,000 or less, making up 45% of unincorporated landlords.

Of the 2.88 million unincorporated landlords, 2.85 million were individuals, who declared a combined £49.81bn in earnings.

Regional Distribution of Rental Income

The data shows that 17% of all unincorporated landlords were based in London, accounting for 28% of all declared income. Combined, London and the South East represented a third of landlords and 44% of all declared rental income. In contrast, the North East accounted for just 2% of property income, while Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland accounted for 5%, 3%, and 1% respectively.

Holiday Let Income and Landlord Expenses

Income from UK furnished holiday lettings fell slightly from £2.47bn in 2023-24 to £2.46bn in 2024-25, making up 4% of all UK rental income. This segment has seen a steady decline since its five-year peak of £2.52bn in 2021-22.

In 2024-25, 87.7% of unincorporated landlords declared expenses totalling £34.8bn. The most common expense categories were rent, rates and insurance (66.1% of expenses), and repairs and maintenance (66.2%). Landlords declared £3.81bn in expenses for rent, rates and insurance, and £6.41bn for repairs and maintenance. The largest expense was residential finance costs, with £12.82bn claimed, representing 37% of all expenses against property income.