The UK property page for sole traders and limited company directors

This article provides a summary of the UK property page of the Self Assessment tax return and the relevant information required to complete it, for a sole trader or limited company director.

Unsupported scenarios

Please note that if you need to include any of the following details on your tax return, you won’t be able to file it using FreeAgent as they’re currently not supported:

• Property income and costs for non-UK properties, other than furnished holiday lettings (FHLs) in the European Economic Area (EEA)
• Property income and costs for landlords not resident in the UK

UK property page

Property details

FreeAgent will not automatically populate any of the boxes on the UK property page if you have a sole trader or limited company account type, so you’ll need to fill this page in manually.

Select ‘Yes’ to ‘Do you need to fill out the UK Property section?’ and enter the amounts of any income and costs for the properties.

Enter the number of properties you rent out in box 1.

Select ‘Yes’ to any questions that apply to you for boxes 2-4, such as if your property income ceased during the tax year and you don’t expect to receive rental income in the following tax year, you receive income from properties let jointly and if you’re claiming Rent a Room relief. Otherwise, select ‘No’.

Furnished holiday lettings

UK furnished holiday lettings

If you rent out furnished holiday lettings (FHLs) in the UK, select ‘Yes’ to ‘Did you receive income from UK furnished holiday lettings?’ and manually enter the income and costs.

If any property qualified as a furnished holiday letting (FHL) property in the tax year 6th April 2021 to 5th April 2022 but did not qualify in the tax year 6th April 2022 to 5th April 2023, you may be able to make an election for a period of grace by selecting ‘Yes’ to box 19. If you’re unsure whether a property qualifies as a furnished holiday letting, please ask your accountant.

EEA furnished holiday lettings

If you rent out furnished holiday lettings (FHLs) in the EEA (European Economic Area), select ‘Yes’ to ‘Did you receive income from EEA furnished holiday lettings?’ and manually enter the income and costs.

If any property qualified as a furnished holiday letting (FHL) property in the tax year 6th April 2021 to 5th April 2022 but did not qualify in the tax year 6th April 2022 to 5th April 2023, you may be able to make an election for a period of grace by selecting ‘Yes’ to box 19. If you’re unsure whether a property qualifies as a furnished holiday letting, please ask your accountant.

Property income

In box 20 enter the income that you’ve received from non-FHL properties. If you let out properties jointly, income will need to be apportioned according to the ownership arrangement that you’ve set up.

If your property rental business income includes premiums paid for the grant of a lease and other lump sum payments given in connection with the right to possession of a property, enter these in box 22. If you’re unsure how to calculate these, please ask your accountant or see HMRC's guidance.

Property expenses

You’ll need to fill this section of the page with the property costs that you’ve paid. If you let out properties jointly, costs will need to be apportioned according to the ownership arrangement that you’ve set up.

Calculating taxable profit or loss

Enter any remaining relevant reliefs and adjustments. If you’re unsure whether you're entitled to any reliefs or how much to enter, please ask your accountant.

Rent a Room Scheme

If you let out furnished accommodation in your home, the Rent a Room Scheme lets you earn up to a threshold of £7,500 per year tax-free from that (£3,750 if you share the income with a partner or someone else).

There are three different ways to treat Rent a Room income, depending on whether the amount of income you received during the tax year was below or above the relevant threshold. If you’re unsure which option applies to you, please speak to your accountant.

If the income you received was below the threshold

If the income you received was below the Rent a Room threshold, select ‘Yes’ to box 4 in the ‘Property details’ section. You must ensure that boxes 20 (Income), and 24 to 29 (Expenses), do not include income and expense transactions related to the room you’re renting out.

If the income you received was above the threshold

If the income you received was above the Rent a Room threshold, you can choose to pay tax on your actual profit on the room you’re renting out, or the gross income above the threshold from that rent.

Paying tax on your actual profit

If you choose to pay tax on your actual profit from the room you’re renting out (your total income minus any expenses and capital allowances), select ‘No’ to box 4 in the ‘Property details’ section as you’re not claiming Rent a Room relief. Enter the income and expenses in the relevant boxes on the form and do not complete box 37.

Paying tax on your gross income above the threshold

If you choose to pay tax on the income above the Rent a Room limit (your rental income minus the £7,500 or £3,750 threshold), select ‘No’ to box 4 in the ‘Property details’ section as your income from the room you’re renting out is above the threshold.

Enter the exempt amount you’re claiming (£7,500, or £3,750 if let jointly) in box 37. If you're renting out other properties and claiming the property income allowance on those rentals, you’ll also need to enter the total rental income qualifying for the Rent a Room Scheme below box 37 so that this income is excluded from the property income allowance calculation. This is because you can’t claim the property income allowance against your Rent a Room income.

You must ensure boxes 24 to 29 do not include expenses relating to the room you’re renting out. You also cannot deduct any capital allowances relating to the room you’re renting out, as per HMRC guidelines.