The UK's leading short-term let accounting specialists.

The tax position of a short-term let changed more between 2024 and 2026 than in the previous twenty years: the furnished holiday lettings regime was abolished, Making Tax Digital reaches most landlords, local visitor levies and registration schemes arrived, and business rates were revalued. A general practice meets these questions occasionally. We meet nothing else, so the advice is specific to your property, your mortgage and your plans rather than a rule of thumb.

From 6 April 2025 your letting income is part of a UK property business rather than a separate trade-like activity. The main consequences are that mortgage interest and other finance costs are no longer deducted in full but relieved as a 20% tax reduction, new spending on furniture and equipment no longer qualifies for capital allowances, profits no longer count as earnings for pension contributions, and the capital gains reliefs that FHLs enjoyed, such as business asset disposal relief and rollover relief, no longer apply to future disposals. The first Self Assessment return under the new rules, for 2025/26, is due by 31 January 2027.

It applies to sole traders and landlords by reference to qualifying income, which is gross rental and self-employment income before expenses. The threshold is £50,000 from 6 April 2026, £30,000 from April 2027 and £20,000 from April 2028, tested on the tax return two years earlier. A host with one well-let property can be over £30,000, so most of our clients are in by 2027.

In Scotland, Edinburgh's 5% levy applies to stays from 24 July 2026, with Glasgow following from January 2027 and other councils, including Highland and Aberdeen, consulting. In Wales, the Visitor Accommodation (Register and Levy) Etc. (Wales) Act 2025 lets each council introduce a per-night charge from April 2027 at the earliest, at £1.30 a person a night (75p for hostels and campsites). England has no statutory visitor levy at present, although some cities operate a voluntary charge through accommodation business improvement districts. Northern Ireland has no levy.

A self-catering property is rated as non-domestic only if it meets the letting tests: in England and Scotland, available for 140 nights and actually let for 70 in the year; in Wales, available for 252 and let for 182. Pass them and you pay rates, often reduced to nil by small business relief; fail them and you pay council tax, in many areas with a second-home premium of up to 100% (up to 300% in Wales). The 2026 revaluation moved many properties, so the choice needs working out property by property, which we do as part of the Accounts plans.

Sometimes. A company deducts mortgage interest in full and pays corporation tax at 19% to 25%, but moving an existing property in can trigger capital gains tax and stamp duty, land and buildings transaction tax or land transaction tax, and taking profits out is taxed again. Companies holding dwellings worth over £500,000 also need to claim relief from the annual tax on enveloped dwellings each year. The answer depends on your other income, your borrowing and how long you intend to hold, so we model it on your numbers before you decide.

Whatever you have, in whatever state. Booking exports from each platform, bank and card statements, supplier invoices, photographs of receipts, and forwarded emails all go into one upload box in your client account, or you can email them. Exports are read automatically; everything else is reviewed by a bookkeeper within two working days. We ask you a question only when something cannot be placed.

We are the accounting arm of the STL Solutions group, and we act only for short-term let and holiday let operators across the United Kingdom: individual hosts, portfolios, limited companies and the agencies that manage properties for others. All accounting and tax work is reviewed and signed off by Aspiration Accounts, an HMRC-registered accountancy firm, so every filing has a regulated practice behind it.