HMRC reports UK residential transactions fell to 94,800 in September 2026, down 4 percent on last year, as Search Acumen, Jackson-Stops, OnTheMarket and Propertymark blame pre-Budget uncertainty and high borrowing costs.
Lendlord analysis finds 17.7% of landlords recorded annual rental income above £50,000 ahead of the 7 November Making Tax Digital quarterly update, with thresholds falling to £30,000 from April 2027.
HMRC opened a 28 October consultation requiring letting agents and deposit schemes to file standardised digital reports of landlord rental income, closing 20 January 2027.
NRLA analysis of HMRC figures shows more than 275,000 landlords and sole traders who should be in Making Tax Digital have yet to sign up, with the second quarterly update deadline due on 7 November.
August’s Landlord Survey 2026 finds only 48 percent of landlords earning £50,000 or more believe they are in Making Tax Digital, although the duty began in April 2026.
HMRC says around 1.077 million more sole traders and landlords must use MTD from 6 April 2027 if qualifying gross income exceeds £30,000.
HMRC’s 30 September release puts UK residential property transactions at 95,220 in August, down 1.5 percent on July in the seasonally adjusted series.
HMRC says the provisional seasonally adjusted count of UK residential property transactions fell to 96,710 in July, down 2 percent on June and 1 percent on a year earlier, reversing the small June uptick in sales activity.
HMRC says capital gains tax liabilities hit a record £24.2 billion in 2024-25 after taxable gains rose to £127.3 billion, sharpening the tax backdrop for landlords weighing disposals and other asset sales.
HMRC will begin signing up landlords and sole traders to Making Tax Digital from September if they should already be in the system, putting fresh pressure on missed registrations after the first quarterly deadline.
HMRC says most High Value Council Tax Surcharge decisions will be made without home visits, clarifying how the new mansion tax regime is expected to work before its April 2028 start.
HMRC says stamp tax receipts rose 8 percent in the first four months of 2026-27, suggesting property tax drag is still strong even as the housing market cools.
HMRC says 436,000 taxpayers met the first Making Tax Digital filing deadline on time, leaving more than 400,000 landlords and sole traders behind.
HMRC has proposed a new Customer Correction Notice power that could treat uncorrected landlord tax mistakes as deliberate, with draft Finance Bill 2026-27 rules raising the penalty risk once an error is spotted and not fixed.
HMRC says landlords in Making Tax Digital for Income Tax must file their first quarterly updates by 7 August, making the opening 2026-27 filing window the first live compliance test for affected property income taxpayers.
