IS YOUR BUY TO LET STILL PAYING?

It depends on the maths almost nobody does. Industry surveys say most landlords are profitable, but they measure gross yield, before mortgage interest, fees and tax. On a true return-on-equity basis, our report found only one of eight typical scenarios beats an easy-access Cash ISA on income alone. It can still work, but usually because the landlord actively manages the costs. Run your own numbers above. 

Gross yield divides rent by property value and ignores everything else: mortgage interest, agent fees, maintenance, compliance, voids and Section 24 tax. Your real question is what lands in your account per pound of equity tied up, which is what the calculator on this page measures. 

 Since 2020, individual landlords cannot deduct mortgage interest from rental income for tax. You pay income tax on the profit before interest, then get back a credit worth 20% of the interest. Basic-rate taxpayers roughly break even on the change; higher-rate taxpayers are often taxed on money they never received. The calculator models it at your band. 

From May 2026: no letting above the advertised asking rent, assured shorthold tenancies replaced by periodic tenancies, and Section 21 abolished. The direct costs are modest; the bigger effect is that pricing correctly up front and referencing well matter more than ever, because mistakes are slower to unwind. 

In rough order of impact for most landlords: check your rent against the current market monthly, not yearly; audit what your letting and management actually cost against the alternatives; review the mortgage, since rate is usually the biggest single line; and price the risks properly, because one bad void or arrears spell can erase a year of margin. The free Money MOT walks through all four with your numbers.