If you live outside the United Kingdom and let a property in Nottingham, two separate rules apply to you at the same time. Your letting agent must deduct tax from your rent at the basic rate before paying it over, unless HMRC has approved you to receive it gross. And if your property sits in one of Nottingham City Council's licensing areas, the licence holder must either live in the UK or be a UK registered company, which means you cannot hold it yourself from abroad. Both are requirements, not preferences. This page explains each of them, what they cost, and what a UK agent has to do on your behalf.
Why a landlord living abroad needs a UK based agent
For most landlords an agent is a convenience. For a landlord living outside the UK, an agent is close to a legal necessity, and for two independent reasons.
The first is licensing. Nottingham City Council has operated mandatory, additional and selective licensing since 1 December 2023. Its published fee policy states that a licence holder must either reside in the UK or, if a company, be registered in the UK. A landlord living abroad therefore has to appoint a UK based person or company to hold the licence, and the Council may ask to see the signed management agreement to satisfy itself that the arrangement is genuine rather than a name on a form.
The second is tax. Under HMRC's Non-Resident Landlord Scheme, a letting agent acting for a landlord whose usual place of abode is outside the UK must deduct tax at the basic rate from the rent before passing it on. The agent then files quarterly and annual returns and issues a certificate each year so the landlord can claim the credit.
Neither is optional, and neither goes away because the property is small or the rent is modest. Which brings us to the point most often got wrong.
Is there a threshold below which none of this applies?
Not where an agent is involved. HMRC's own guidance is explicit that there is no de minimis limit for rent paid to a landlord through a letting agent. The figure many landlords have heard, £100 a week, applies only where there is no agent and the tenant pays the landlord directly: a tenant paying less than that does not have to deduct.
This matters in two directions. The belief that a modest letting escapes the scheme is wrong the moment an agent is appointed. And a tenant renting directly from an overseas landlord may carry a withholding duty they almost certainly do not know they have. At an average Nottingham rent of £1,009 a month, the tenant threshold is comfortably exceeded.
Who can hold a Nottingham property licence if you live abroad?
A UK resident individual, or a UK registered company. That is the whole answer, and it comes from the Council's Housing Licensing Fee Policy, version 7, effective 1 April 2025, which states at Appendix 2 that a licence holder must either reside in the UK or, if a company, be registered in the UK.
Whether your property needs a licence at all depends on where it is. Nottingham City Council's schemes cover the City area. Much of Nottinghamshire sits under different councils with different rules, so West Bridgford, Beeston, Arnold and Hucknall are not in the City's schemes. Our areas page sets out which authority governs which area.
The licence holder carries the legal responsibility for meeting the licence conditions. That is not a formality, and it is why the arrangement needs a properly drafted agreement rather than a handshake.
What must your letting agent deduct, and when?
Where the scheme applies, the agent deducts tax at the basic rate from your rental income after allowable expenses and accounts for it to HMRC. The basic rate is 20%. The obligations run continuously through the year: registration with HMRC on form NRL4 within 30 days of first needing to operate the scheme; a quarterly return on form NRLQ, with the tax, reaching HMRC no later than 30 days after each quarter end on 30 June, 30 September, 31 December and 31 March; an annual information return on form NRLY by 5 July for the year to 31 March; and a certificate on form NRL6 to the landlord by 5 July, which is the document that lets you claim the credit on your own return.
Most agents can do this. Rather fewer want to, because it is quarterly filing and tax certificates rather than viewings and photographs. Ask a prospective agent directly whether they are registered under the scheme, and be wary of a vague answer. We are registered.
Am I actually a non-resident landlord?
More people are caught than expect to be, so this is worth reading carefully. HMRC's test is not the same as tax residence. Its guidance states that individuals have a usual place of abode outside the UK if they usually live outside the UK, and are not treated as having one if they are living outside the UK only temporarily, which the guidance illustrates as six months or less.
The important part is this: you can have a usual place of abode outside the UK even if you are resident in the UK for that year under the statutory residence test. The two questions are separate. That catches British citizens on overseas postings, academics on a year abroad, medics on secondment, and anyone who has moved abroad and kept the house intending to return.
For companies, HMRC treats a company with its main office or place of business outside the UK, or one incorporated outside the UK, as normally having a usual place of abode outside the UK. For trustees, the group has one only if every trustee does.
How do I receive my rent without tax deducted?
You apply to HMRC for approval, on form NRL1 if you are an individual. HMRC grants approval where the application is complete and it is satisfied you will meet your UK tax obligations, and it notifies your agent directly. Until that notification arrives the agent must keep deducting.
Approval does not remove your tax liability. It moves the timing, so that you account for the tax through your own self assessment return rather than having it withheld at source. For most landlords with a UK accountant and a clean record it is worth doing, and being the named agent on the application is part of what a good agent does for you.
What does the Renters' Rights Act 2025 mean if you are not in the country?
The Renters' Rights Act 2025 received Royal Assent on 27 October 2025 and its main provisions commenced on 1 May 2026. It makes letting from abroad materially harder to run informally.
Section 21 is abolished, so a landlord can no longer end a tenancy without a reason and must rely on the statutory possession grounds. Assured shorthold tenancies have converted to periodic tenancies. Rent increases must follow the statutory process using Form 4A. Rental bidding and taking rent in advance are prohibited, there is an implied right to request a pet, and the discrimination provisions apply. Landlords of existing tenancies had to serve an information sheet by 31 May 2026, with penalties of up to £7,000.
Each of these is a process with a deadline attached, and each is difficult to run reliably from a different time zone. A landlord abroad who misses a step in the Form 4A process does not simply lose the increase; they may have to begin again.
A Private Rented Sector Database begins its rollout from late 2026, and a landlord ombudsman is expected in 2028. Both will add registration and complaint handling obligations, and both are easier with a UK agent already in place.
What will the 2027 tax change mean for me?
From 6 April 2027, property income carries its own rates of income tax, two percentage points above the rates on employment and trading income. They will be 22%, 42% and 47%, announced at the Autumn Budget 2025 and applying to English and Northern Irish taxpayers.
On the withholding question we would rather be accurate than definite. The Non-Resident Landlord Scheme deduction is pegged to the basic rate. Whether it follows the new property income basic rate of 22% has not yet been confirmed by HMRC. Plenty of commentary assumes that it will. We will check HMRC's guidance again before the 2027 to 2028 tax year and update this page, and we would encourage you not to plan on an assumption either way.
What we do, and what it costs
Our overseas landlord management service is 12% of the rent (including any VAT), with a one off setup fee of £600 (including any VAT) and the quarterly HMRC submission charged at £60 each quarter. It covers acting as your named UK licence holder at no additional charge, under an agreement drafted by Trent Law Solicitors, Trent Estate Agents Limited being a UK registered company as the Council requires. It covers operating the Non-Resident Landlord Scheme, since we are registered with HMRC under it, so the deductions, the quarterly NRLQ returns, the annual NRLY and your NRL6 certificate by 5 July are handled here. It covers assistance with your NRL1 application if you want to be paid gross. It covers full management with the licence conditions actively complied with, inspections with photographic reporting, and communication that takes account of the time zone you are actually in. And it gives you access to Trent Law Solicitors for the licence holder agreement, possession work and any eventual sale.
For comparison, our standard full management service is 10% of the rent, and our landlord services page sets out every charge in full, including what is and is not included in each service.
There is one thing we will not do, and it is worth saying plainly. We sell properties and management services, not investments. We will tell you what a property is, what it rents for and what it costs to run. We will not promise you a return.
Questions we are asked
Do I have to use a letting agent if I live abroad?
Not as a matter of general law, but usually yes in practice. If your property is in a Nottingham City licensing area, the licence holder must be a UK resident or a UK registered company. And without an agent the withholding duty falls on your tenant where the rent is £100 a week or more, which few tenants know and fewer want.
Is there a minimum rent below which the Non-Resident Landlord Scheme does not apply?
Not where a letting agent is involved. HMRC guidance confirms there is no de minimis limit for rent paid to a landlord through a letting agent. The £100 a week figure applies only to tenants paying a landlord directly.
Can a letting agent hold a Nottingham property licence for an overseas landlord?
Yes. Nottingham City Council requires a licence holder to reside in the UK or, if a company, to be registered in the UK. Trent Estate Agents Limited is a UK registered company and acts as named licence holder under an agreement drafted by Trent Law Solicitors, included in the 12% management fee, which includes any VAT.
How much tax is deducted from a non-resident landlord's rent?
Tax at the basic rate, 20%, deducted from rental income after allowable expenses rather than from the gross rent.
Can a non-resident landlord be paid rent gross?
Yes, if HMRC approves an application on form NRL1 for individuals. HMRC notifies the letting agent directly and deductions stop from that point. The tax liability itself is unchanged and is accounted for through self assessment.
Can I be a non-resident landlord while still UK resident for tax?
Possibly, because the tests are separate. HMRC treats a landlord as having a usual place of abode outside the UK if they usually live outside the UK, and that can apply even where the statutory residence test makes them UK resident for the year.
How long does a Nottingham property licence last?
Generally five years, so the published fee is a five year cost. Part of the fee is payable on application and is not refunded if the licence is refused.
Which council covers my property?
It depends on the address. Nottingham City Council covers the City. Rushcliffe, Broxtowe, Gedling and Ashfield cover much of the surrounding area and their rules differ. Send us the address and we will tell you.
Sources
HMRC, Paying tax on rent to landlords abroad, and the Non-Resident Landlords Scheme guidance notes for letting agents
HMRC Property Income Manual, PIM4810 on the scheme and the absence of a de minimis limit, and PIM4850 on usual place of abode
Nottingham City Council, Housing Licensing Fee Policy, version 7, effective 1 April 2025
Renters' Rights Act 2025, chapter 26, and the Renters' Rights Act 2025 (Commencement No. 1) Regulations 2025
HM Treasury, Autumn Budget 2025, on property income tax rates from April 2027
General information about the law and practice in England. Not tax advice or legal advice.
