HMRC's most recent published property rental income statistics, covering the 2023/24 tax year and released in August 2025, with the next release due in summer 2026, contain a figure that challenges a widely held assumption about what it means to be a private landlord in England. The average rental income declared by unincorporated landlords was £19,400 per year, representing the highest average in five years and an increase from £18,300 the year before. That upward trajectory is real. But understanding what the figure actually means requires looking at what sits beneath the average, because the data contains a set of distributions that the headline number systematically obscures.
What £19,400 looks like before expenses
The £19,400 figure is gross rental income before expenses. HMRC's data shows that 88% of unincorporated landlords claimed allowable expenses against their rental income in 2023/24, with average expenses declared running at £11,500. The largest single category of expense was residential finance costs at £9.05 billion across the sector, reflecting the impact of mortgage interest restrictions that have progressively reduced what landlords can claim against income since Section 24 was phased in.
Subtracting average expenses from average income produces an approximate net position of around £7,900 per year before income tax, for the typical unincorporated landlord. The NRLA has noted, with the backing of the HMRC data, that £19,400 gross represents less than what someone would earn from a full-time minimum wage job. On a net basis, the comparison is starker still.
The distribution that the average conceals
The average is pulled upward by a relatively small number of portfolio landlords with multiple properties generating substantial income. More than 1.36 million unincorporated landlords, close to half of all 2.86 million who declared rental income in 2023/24, reported rental income of £10,000 or less for the year. For a landlord in this group, the economics of property management, compliance with the Renters' Rights Act, EPC upgrade obligations, and the forthcoming income tax increase on rental income, are materially different from those of a larger portfolio operator.
The geographic concentration of the data adds further complexity. Seventeen per cent of unincorporated landlords are based in London, yet they account for 27% of total property income declared. Properties in London generate higher rental income but also carry higher purchase prices, higher running costs, and in many cases higher mortgage debt. For landlords outside London and the South East, where rental income is lower and property values less elevated, the net yield position at £19,400 average gross income requires careful management to remain commercially viable.
What the rising cost environment adds
The 2023/24 data predates the full impact of rising buy-to-let mortgage rates in 2026. The residential finance costs that already represented the largest expense category in HMRC's data have increased further for landlords who have remortgaged or taken on new debt in 2026. Those additional costs are not yet reflected in the published statistics and will compress net income further when the 2024/25 figures are released.
The NRLA has used the £19,400 figure to make the case that the government should not assume landlords represent a uniformly wealthy sector with deep capacity to absorb additional costs. The data supports that position. The average is a real number. The distribution around it tells a story that any landlord reviewing their portfolio performance in 2026 should engage with directly.
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