Keeping your UK home or selling it before you go: rent, leave empty or sell

There's no right answer, only a set of costs. Let it, leave it or sell it, and each one comes with its own forms, bills and tax.

The short version

• Letting brings in rent but makes you a landlord, with mortgage consent, safety checks, deposit rules and, in England, the Renters' Rights Act that came in on 1 May 2026 [1][7].
• Leaving it empty is simplest on paper, but in England most councils now charge up to double council tax on furnished second homes from April 2025, and more on long-term empty homes [2][3].
• Selling before you go usually means private residence relief covers the whole gain and there's no 60-day non-resident return [8].
• Selling later from abroad means a report to HMRC within 60 days of completion, even with no tax to pay.
• Whatever you choose, tell your lender and your insurer before you leave.

The three options side by side

Option 1: Let it

Your lender's consent

If you have a residential mortgage, you must get your lender's permission before letting [1]. Lenders handle this differently. Some grant consent to let for a period, often with a fee or a higher rate. Others want you to move to a buy-to-let mortgage, and some won't lend to borrowers abroad at all. Letting without consent can breach your mortgage terms, so ask before you sign up a tenant. Leaseholders should also check the lease, as some restrict subletting.

The landlord checklist

In England, the basics include [1][4][5][6]:

1. Gas safety. A Gas Safe registered engineer checks gas appliances every year, and tenants get a copy of the record [4].
2. Electrics, smoke and carbon monoxide alarms. Equipment must be safely installed and maintained, and alarms fitted and tested [1].
3. EPC. You need an Energy Performance Certificate, and since April 2020 you can't let a home rated below band E unless you've registered an exemption [1][6]. The government wants rented homes improved towards band C by 2030, but the details aren't settled yet [6].
4. Deposit. Put it in a government-approved scheme within 30 days of receiving it: the Deposit Protection Service, MyDeposits or the Tenancy Deposit Scheme. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own schemes [5].
5. Right to rent. Check that tenants can legally rent in England [1].

Many people abroad use a fully managed letting agent for all this. Budget for their fee, and for the repairs that tend to happen at the least convenient moment.

The Renters' Rights Act

Since 1 May 2026, tenancies in England are periodic with no end date, and section 21 "no fault" evictions have gone [7]. To get the house back to move in or sell, you use a section 8 ground, can't do so in the first 12 months of a tenancy, and normally give four months' notice [7]. Rent can rise only once a year [7]. A national landlord database is due to start rolling out from late 2026, and membership of a landlord ombudsman is expected to become compulsory in 2028 [9].

If you plan to come back on a fixed date, build those notice periods into your plans. Scotland and Wales have their own tenancy laws.

The tax

Rent from a UK property stays taxable in the UK. Your agent will take tax off at source under the Non-Resident Landlord Scheme unless you apply on form NRL1 to be paid gross, and you'll file a Self Assessment return each year. Our guide on the Non-Resident Landlord Scheme has the detail.

Option 2: Leave it empty

Tempting if you might be back within a year or two, or want somewhere for visits home. But it isn't free.

• Council tax. You remain liable. In England, councils can charge up to twice the normal bill on a second home, a furnished home nobody lives in as their main home [2]. Councils have been able to charge it since 1 April 2025 [10], and many brought it in then, for example Oxford, which applies a 100% premium on most second homes [3]. Unfurnished homes empty for a year or more can be charged a premium too, rising to up to four times the bill after 10 years [2][3]. There are limited exceptions, such as up to 12 months while a home is marketed for sale or to let [2]. Wales lets its councils set their own premiums, and Scotland has separate rules. Check your own council's policy.
• Insurance. Standard home insurance usually limits cover once a home is unoccupied for more than a set number of consecutive days. You'll need unoccupied property cover, which often requires regular inspections and the water drained down in winter.
• Upkeep. Someone needs to check the post, the boiler and the roof. A burst pipe in January discovered at Easter is nobody's idea of a homecoming.

Option 3: Sell before you go

Selling while you're still UK resident and the house is your main home is usually the cleanest tax result. Private residence relief normally covers the whole gain on your only or main residence [8], and you report and pay any CGT under the normal rules for UK residents rather than as a non-resident.

The downsides: estate agent and solicitor fees, removal costs, and no foothold in a UK market that may have moved on by the time you come home. If you might return, look at what buying again would cost, including stamp duty in England and Northern Ireland, LBTT in Scotland or LTT in Wales, and the surcharge non-residents pay in England.

The tax that follows each choice

• Let, then sell from abroad. You report within 60 days of completion and may owe CGT on part of the gain. Relief covers the years you lived there and the final nine months [8], but a 90-day test usually rules out years when it was let and you were abroad. See selling UK property as a non-resident.
• Leave empty, then sell. Similar CGT position, and the absence rules can sometimes treat time away as time living there [8]: up to three years for any reason, or any length of time working abroad, usually provided you move back in afterwards.
• Sell first. Usually no UK CGT, and nothing more to report once you've gone.

Your new country may also tax rent or gains from the UK property. A tax adviser who knows both countries can check your case before you decide, preferably over a proper cuppa rather than at the airport.

Sources

1. GOV.UK: Renting out your property, landlord responsibilities
2. GOV.UK: Council Tax, second homes and empty properties
3. Oxford City Council: Council tax premium for empty properties and second homes
4. Health and Safety Executive: Gas safety check records and what to keep
5. GOV.UK: Tenancy deposit protection
6. GOV.UK: Domestic private rented property, minimum energy efficiency standard (landlord guidance)
7. GOV.UK: Renters' Rights Act, an overview for landlords
8. GOV.UK: HS283 Private Residence Relief (2026)
9. GOV.UK: Implementing the Renters' Rights Act 2025, our roadmap for reforming the private rented sector
10. GOV.UK: Guidance on the council tax premiums on long-term empty homes and second homes

Keep reading

• Moving abroad checklist for Brits
• Jury service, council tax and other obligations when you leave
• Remortgaging your UK property from abroad
• Buying UK property from abroad