What it really takes to be a landlord: time, money and the jobs nobody mentions

Owning a rented home is often called "passive income". It isn't. It's a small business, with customers (your tenants), suppliers (your tradespeople), a regulator (your council) and a tax bill. Here is what it really involves.

The time it takes

Most self-managing landlords with a few homes spend a few hours a month on them, and a lot more in a bad month. The work comes in three rhythms.

Every week

• Check that the rent has arrived, and contact anyone who's late the same week.
• Answer repair reports. A tenant with no heating or hot water needs a reply today, not next week.

Every month

• Match rent payments to tenants, and keep receipts for every cost.
• Chase repairs you've booked until they're actually done.

Every year

• Book the gas safety check before the old certificate runs out.
• Review the rent. Since May 2026 you can only raise it once a year, with a Section 13 notice and two months' warning. See raising the rent.
• Do your tax return, and from 2026 to 2028 check whether Making Tax Digital applies to you.

Every few years

• Electrical report (EICR) every 5 years, and energy certificate (EPC) every 10.
• Bigger jobs: a new boiler, a kitchen, a roof.
• Finding a new tenant, with referencing, Right to Rent checks, a deposit and a check-in.

The money people forget

New landlords often budget for the mortgage and little else. Plan for:

• Empty months between tenants, when you pay the bills and get no rent.
• Repairs. Boilers and roofs don't care about your budget. Many landlords keep at least a few months' rent aside.
• Safety checks: roughly £60 to £120 for gas, £150 to £300 for an EICR and £60 to £120 for an EPC.
• Insurance, the landlord register fee (reported at £65 per home a year from December 2026), and licence fees if your council charges them.
• Tax. Rental profit is taxed as income, and from April 2027 the rates go up to 22%, 42% and 47%. For most landlords, mortgage interest only gets a 20% tax credit, not full relief.
• Letting agents, if you use one, often charge 10% to 15% of the rent to manage the home fully.

The responsibility

This is the part that has changed most. Since the Renters' Rights Act:

• You can only end a tenancy for a legal reason, and a court decides. See getting your property back.
• Councils can fine landlords up to £40,000 for serious or repeated breaches.
• Missing one document, like the gas certificate or the deposit information, can sink a possession claim years later.

None of this is hard if you stay organised. Most landlords who get into trouble didn't mean to break a rule. They just lost track of a date.

Is it right for you?

Letting tends to suit people who:

• can keep a cash buffer for repairs and empty months,
• answer messages quickly and stay calm when things break,
• keep good records, or use something that keeps them for them,
• think in years, not months.

If that sounds like you, being a landlord can be rewarding, both financially and in giving someone a good home.

Want the dates and records handled for you? LetSync tracks rent, repairs, certificates and deadlines, and reminds you before anything is due. Start free.