The gloomy mood surrounding buy to let with higher taxation and stricter regulation has not stopped it being relatively lucrative for landlords. 

According to HMRC the total property income declared by unincorporated landlords in 2021-22 was £48.8 billion, up from £46.3 billion the previous year.

Some 2.79m landlords filed self assessment tax returns for 2021-22 with almost all operating as individual buy-to-let landlords. There were also 300,000 partnerships with rental properties, earning £6.17 billion.

The total income from UK property increased by 10 per cent in the five years to 2022, with 100,000 more landlords over that period and average income from property for each rising to £16,700.

Unsurprisingly the most significant expense was finance costs with £6.85 billion claimed in 2021-22. This was 29 per cent of all expenses claimed against UK property income by unincorporated landlords

The most common expenses claimed were rent, rates and insurance, and repairs and maintenance, with 67 per cent of unincorporated landlords declaring expenses of these types with total claims up six per cent.

While the majority of landlords buy property directly, a growing number of investors are using limited company structure to reduce their tax bills.