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Not legally — any accountant can file rental income on a tax return. But landlord tax is its own world: Section 24 mortgage interest restrictions, capital gains on disposal, allowable vs capital expenditure, incorporation relief, stamp duty surcharges, and the constant question of whether to hold property personally or through a limited company. A specialist saves you tax and stops you tripping over rules a generalist might miss. Halewood handles landlord accountancy from £99/month for limited company structures, and from £225/year for sole trader landlords.

Under PRA rules, a portfolio landlord is someone with 4 or more buy-to-let mortgaged properties. Once you hit that threshold, BTL mortgage applications get more complex — lenders run portfolio-wide stress tests, look at total borrowing across the portfolio, and ask for a portfolio schedule with every application. Most high-street brokers can't or won't handle portfolio applications. Halewood does — flat-fee mortgages, real BTL specialists, no surprises mid-application.

Yes — but it's harder. PRA rules from 2017 mean lenders have to assess affordability across your whole portfolio, not just the property you're buying. The trick is knowing which lenders are portfolio-friendly, what they want to see, and how to package the application. Halewood's mortgage team works with portfolio landlords every week — including limited company structures, ex-pat landlords and HMOs.

Rental income from a property held personally is taxed as income — added to your other earnings and taxed at your marginal rate (20%, 40%, or 45%). Mortgage interest is no longer a deductible expense for higher-rate taxpayers since the Section 24 changes — you get a 20% tax credit instead. For limited company landlords, rental profits are taxed at corporation tax rates (currently 19-25%), and you can still deduct mortgage interest as a business expense. Whether to hold property personally or through a Ltd depends on your other income, your portfolio size, and your long-term plan. Halewood's accountancy team runs the numbers properly.

Without a proper will, your portfolio passes via intestacy rules — which often isn't what you'd want, and almost never tax-efficient. Inheritance tax kicks in at 40% above the nil-rate band (currently £325k, rising to £500k if a main residence passes to direct descendants), which most property portfolios easily exceed. There are structures (lifetime gifts, certain trusts, business property relief routes for some commercial property) that can reduce the IHT exposure — but they need planning, not panic. Halewood's wills team handles property-heavy estates regularly, and our accountancy team makes sure the tax planning lines up with the will.