Letting through a company: which of this year's changes apply to you, and which don't

Most guidance on this year's changes is written for landlords who own in their own name. That is reasonable: the government's English Private Landlord Survey 2024 found that 93% of landlords let as individuals and 6% as part of a company. But companies held 15% of tenancies, and anyone letting through one has to work out, change by change, what applies.

This guide does that for limited-company landlords in England. It covers tax, company administration and housing law, and for each change says whether it applies to the company, to you personally, or to neither.

Which changes apply to a company landlord?

The short version:

Change	Applies to the company?	Applies to you personally?
Making Tax Digital for Income Tax	No	Only for property you own in your own name
New property income tax rates (from 6 April 2027)	No	Only for property you own in your own name
Higher dividend tax rates (from 6 April 2026)	No	Yes, on dividends you take
HMRC's free company filing service closed (31 March 2026)	Yes	No
Companies House identity verification (from 18 November 2025)	Yes	Yes, as a director or PSC
Renters' Rights Act tenancy rules (from 1 May 2026)	Yes	No
Landlord-moving-in ground (Ground 1)	In practice, no	No
Rent repayment orders	Yes	Yes, since 1 May 2026, as a director
Landlord database (from 15 December 2026)	Yes	Only for property you own in your own name
PRS Landlord Ombudsman (expected 2028)	Yes	Only for property you own in your own name
Decent Homes Standard (2035) and EPC C (2030)	Yes	Only for property you own in your own name
Awaab's Law for private renting (proposed)	Yes, as proposed	Only for property you own in your own name

The rest of this guide explains each line.

Does Making Tax Digital for Income Tax apply to a company?

No. HMRC's guidance says you must use MTD for Income Tax if you are a sole trader or landlord registered for Self Assessment and your qualifying income is above the threshold. Qualifying income is your own self-employment and property income, before expenses:

Qualifying income in tax year	Must use MTD from
Over £50,000 in 2024 to 2025	6 April 2026
Over £30,000 in 2025 to 2026	6 April 2027
Over £20,000 in 2026 to 2027	6 April 2028

A company is not in Self Assessment for its rents; it pays Corporation Tax. HMRC's Transformation Roadmap (July 2025) says it does not intend to introduce MTD for Corporation Tax.

Two things catch company landlords out:

• Property in your own name still counts. If you own some homes personally and some through the company, the personal rents (your share, if jointly owned) are qualifying income. If your own qualifying income is over £20,000 in the 2026 to 2027 tax year, you will need MTD from April 2028.
• Company money does not. HMRC lists "dividends (including those from your own company)" and employment income as not counting. A salary or dividend from your property company does not bring you into MTD on its own, though it still goes on your Self Assessment return.

What about the new property income tax rates?

From the 2027 to 2028 tax year, individuals pay separate Income Tax rates on property income: 22% basic, 42% higher and 47% additional. HMRC says the measure "will affect individuals who receive income from letting property". A company's rental profits are taxed under Corporation Tax, so these rates do not reach the company.

What does reach you is the cost of getting money out. From 6 April 2026 the dividend ordinary rate rose to 10.75% and the upper rate to 35.75%; the additional rate stays at 39.35%. If you draw dividends from the company, ask your accountant whether your plans for the year still make sense.

What has changed for the company's own filing?

Two administrative changes, neither about property:

• HMRC's free filing service has gone. The joint "File your accounts and Company Tax Return" service closed on 31 March 2026. From 1 April 2026, HMRC expects Company Tax Returns to be filed with commercial software. Accounts still go to Companies House as well. The deadlines have not changed: the return is due 12 months after the end of the accounting period, and the tax is usually due 9 months and one day after it.
• Directors must verify their identity. Identity verification at Companies House became a legal requirement on 18 November 2025. An existing director provides their personal code with the company's next confirmation statement. People with significant control have their own 14-day window.

Do the Renters' Rights Act tenancy rules apply to a company?

Yes, in full. The company is the landlord, and the tenancy reforms in Chapter 1 of Part 1 of the Act came into force on 1 May 2026 for private assured tenancies. For a company, as for anyone:

• Section 21 is abolished. Tenancies are periodic and possession needs a ground under Section 8.
• Rent goes up once a year using a Section 13 notice, with at least two months' notice. The tenant can challenge it at the First-tier Tribunal.
• The moving-in and selling grounds need four months' notice and cannot be used in the first 12 months of a tenancy.

Can a company use the landlord-moving-in ground?

Assume not. Ground 1, as rewritten by the Act, applies where the landlord "requires the dwelling-house as the only or principal home" of the landlord, the landlord's spouse or partner, or the landlord's parent, grandparent, sibling, child or grandchild. A company cannot live anywhere and has no relatives. The Act does not say "individual", but the wording is built around one.

So if you hold a home in a company and might one day want it back for yourself or a family member, Ground 1 is not a plan. Ground 1A, where the landlord intends to sell, has no such condition and is open to a company landlord. Where it matters to you, ask a housing solicitor before you rely on either ground.

Can a rent repayment order be made against a director?

Yes. This is the change most likely to surprise company landlords, because it reaches past the company.

Rent repayment orders let a tenant or council ask the First-tier Tribunal to order repayment of rent where the landlord has committed certain offences. The Renters' Rights Act changed the regime from 1 May 2026:

• Directors can be liable. New section 51A of the Housing and Planning Act 2016 says that where a company landlord commits a relevant offence with the "consent or connivance" of a director, manager, secretary or similar officer, that person is treated as having committed it too. For some offences it is enough that the offence was "attributable to any neglect" on their part.
• The neglect offences include illegal eviction, failing to comply with an improvement notice or prohibition order, letting an unlicensed HMO or house, breaching a banning order, and two of the Act's new offences about letting and continuing breaches.
• Superior landlords can now be ordered to repay too, not just the immediate landlord.
• More rent, longer to claim. The maximum is now up to two years' rent (it was 12 months), and a tenant can apply within two years of the offence.

The changes apply only to offences committed on or after 1 May 2026. The practical point: a director who does not know whether an HMO licence is in place, or whether an improvement notice has been dealt with, is exposed. If the company has more than one director, agree who watches what.

Does the company have to register on the landlord database?

Yes. The government's "Register your rental property" service opens on 15 December 2026. The deadline depends on where the property is, not where the company is registered:

Region	Opens	Register by
West Midlands	15 Dec 2026	14 Mar 2027
East of England	15 Jan 2027	14 Apr 2027
East Midlands	15 Feb 2027	14 May 2027
South East	15 Mar 2027	14 Jun 2027
Yorkshire and Humber	15 Apr 2027	14 Jul 2027
North West	15 May 2027	14 Aug 2027
North East	15 Jun 2027	14 Sep 2027
London	15 Jul 2027	14 Oct 2027
South West	15 Aug 2027	14 Nov 2027

An organisational landlord gives the organisation's name, legal entity type, address, phone and email; the details of the person making the entry; a nominated contact; and its Companies House number. The fee is £65 a property a year, renewed annually. An agent can upload some information, but the landlord starts the registration.

What else applies, and when?

• PRS Landlord Ombudsman. The government expects private landlords to have to join in 2028. A company landlord joins like anyone else.
• Decent Homes Standard. The government's January 2026 policy statement says the new standard will apply to private rented homes from 2035. The regulations have not yet been made.
• Energy efficiency. The same statement says private rented homes must reach EPC C or equivalent by 1 October 2030, unless an exemption is registered.
• Awaab's Law. The consultation on extending it to private renting runs until 18 December 2026. It does not treat company landlords differently, and says 2027 is the earliest it could start. See our guide to the consultation.

None of these treat a company differently from an individual. The company is the landlord, so the company carries the duty.

What should a company landlord do now?

1. List what you own, and how. Split company properties from any you own personally or jointly. The tax rules follow the owner; the housing rules follow the property.
2. Check your personal MTD position on the personally held homes only, using gross rents, and ask your accountant about dividends after the April 2026 rate rise.
3. Confirm the company's filing route. If you used HMRC's free service, make sure you or your accountant now have software for the Company Tax Return.
4. Verify every director's identity at Companies House before the next confirmation statement.
5. Put each property's database window in the diary, and gather the company details the registration asks for.
6. Review your possession plans. Do not plan around Ground 1. Check notice periods and the 12-month protected period on Ground 1A.
7. Agree who watches the offences that reach directors: licences, improvement notices and any council correspondence. Keep a dated record of what was received and what was done.
8. Take advice where your own facts decide it: an accountant on tax and extraction, a housing solicitor on possession and director liability.