By the Unity Stays directors, Marcus Chong & Gadir Al-Khatib · Last updated 12 August 2026
In short: Yes — short-let income is taxable and must be declared, through Self Assessment for individuals or corporation tax for companies, and the platforms report host earnings to HMRC. You pay tax on profit after allowable expenses, and since the furnished holiday lettings regime was abolished in April 2025, mortgage interest relief is restricted to the basic rate.
Short-let income is taxable income
Income from short letting is taxable and must be declared. For most individual owners it is taxed as property income through Self Assessment; where the property is held in a company it falls within corporation tax.
You are taxed on profit, not on turnover — allowable expenses of running the let are deductible. What counts as allowable, and how finance costs are treated, is where most of the complexity sits.
Platforms report host earnings to HMRC. Undeclared short-let income is visible, and assuming otherwise is not a strategy.
The furnished holiday lettings regime was abolished
The FHL regime was abolished from April 2025. This is the single most important change in the area and a great deal of the guidance still circulating online predates it.
In outline, what changed: mortgage interest relief is now restricted to the basic rate, as it already was for standard lettings; capital allowances on furniture and equipment are no longer available in the same way; certain capital gains reliefs that applied to FHLs no longer apply; and short-let profits no longer count as relevant earnings for pension contribution purposes.
This does not mean short letting stopped working. It means the case now rests on gross income and occupancy rather than on a tax advantage — which is what any honest projection should have been based on anyway.
Rent a Room relief
If you let furnished accommodation in your own home — a room, rather than a whole property you do not live in — Rent a Room relief may exempt a threshold of gross receipts from tax.
It applies to your main residence and is not available for a separate property let as a whole. Where receipts exceed the threshold you can choose between paying tax on the excess or on the profit in the normal way, and which is better depends on your costs.
Rent a Room is the most commonly misapplied relief in this area, usually by owners of whole properties who do not live in them.
VAT, and when it starts to matter
Short-term holiday and serviced accommodation is generally a standard-rated supply for VAT, unlike residential letting which is exempt. That matters once turnover approaches the registration threshold.
An owner with several well-performing properties can reach the threshold faster than expected, and registration changes the economics because VAT is due on the accommodation charge. This is a common and expensive surprise for growing portfolios.
Where the property is held in a company, or across several entities, the position needs proper advice rather than a rule of thumb.
Business rates or council tax
Separately from income tax, a property is either in the council tax list or the rating list. Moving to business rates as self-catering accommodation now requires evidence of actual letting, not merely an intention to let.
In England: available for letting at least 140 days in the previous and current year, and actually let at least 70 days in the previous year. In Wales the thresholds are much higher at 252 and 182 days.
Falling short does not mean a slightly different bill — it means moving back to council tax, potentially with a second-home premium on top. Our rates guide covers this in detail, and it is worth treating the letting threshold as a planning number rather than something to check in April.
Records, and what makes the year easier
Keep monthly statements showing gross booking revenue and every deduction, per property. They are what your accountant will work from, and they are considerably easier to use than a bank statement showing net transfers.
They are also the evidence of actual letting that the business rates thresholds now require. That evidence requirement is the thing that changed in 2023, and reconstructing it after the fact is painful.
Our statements show gross revenue and every deduction line by line for exactly this reason.
A plain summary of a complex area, not tax advice. Your position depends on your circumstances, your other income and how the property is owned. Speak to an accountant before making decisions.