Letting agents for overseas landlords

Last reviewed 3 October 2026 · Published by madeofmango · Covers England

This guide is about letting a property in England while you live abroad. It is not legal or tax advice: HMRC and a tax adviser are the right places to check your own position.

Who the scheme applies to

GOV.UK says a landlord who lives abroad for more than 6 months of the year must pay tax on any income from renting out UK property, and that the tax is collected through the Non-resident Landlord (NRL) scheme. If the landlord is a company or a trustee, the rules about their usual place of abode apply instead. For joint owners, tax is paid on each owner’s own share of the rent.

What a letting agent must do

A letting agent must operate the scheme however much rent it collects, unless HMRC has told it in writing that the landlord can receive the rent with no tax deducted. In practice, according to GOV.UK, that means the agent:

• registers with HMRC for the scheme (form NRL4);
• deducts income tax at the basic rate from the rent after deducting allowable expenses it paid in the tax quarter, and pays it to HMRC each quarter;
• sends HMRC and the landlord an annual report (form NRLY) and gives the landlord a certificate (NRL6) each year;
• keeps records of rent received and expenses paid for 4 years.

If a landlord has no agent, a tenant paying more than £100 a week in rent generally has to deduct the tax instead. Even where HMRC has approved gross payment, GOV.UK notes the agent may still need to register and complete an annual report.

How to apply to receive rent with no tax deducted

You apply to HMRC yourself, not through the agent. The form depends on who owns the property:

• NRL1 for an individual landlord. You can apply online or fill in the form and post it to HMRC. If you want a tax agent to act for you, GOV.UK says to use form 64-8 and the print-and-post route.
• NRL2 for a non-resident company landlord.
• NRL3 for the trustee of a non-resident trust.

GOV.UK says HMRC will normally approve an application if the form is complete and correct and HMRC is satisfied that you will follow all your UK tax obligations. HMRC sends a notice of approval, with an approval reference number, to you or your authorised tax agent, and a separate notice to the tenants or letting agents named on the application. The notice gives the date from which rent should be paid without deduction, which is usually the first day of the quarter in which HMRC received your application. HMRC may refuse an application, and the refusal notice explains how to appeal.

Questions to ask a letting agent

• Do you operate the Non-resident Landlord scheme, and are you registered with HMRC for it?
• If I have, or apply for, HMRC approval to receive rent gross, will you want to see the approval notice or reference number before paying me without deduction?
• How and when will I get the annual NRL6 certificate and the figures for my tax return?
• Are any fees for operating the scheme in your terms of business, and are they shown in your published fees?
• Which languages can you handle calls and written statements in, and which time zones are you available in?
• How do you pay rent to an overseas bank account, and what does that cost?

For a wider checklist, see how to choose a letting agent and letting agent fees for landlords.

Find agencies that say they work with overseas landlords

madeofmango lets you filter agencies by whether they say they serve overseas (non-resident) landlords. Where coverage reaches your area, you can also compare their fees and see which compliance details were checked against a register and which were only stated by the agency. Coverage currently starts in East London (Canning Town, Royal Victoria, Custom House and the rest of E16) and is expanding outwards, so searches elsewhere may return no agencies yet.

Search overseas-friendly agencies in London