Add your first property

Adding a property creates the container that holds one rental's income, expenses and ownership share. It is the first thing to do before you record any transactions, and the whole flow takes a minute or two.

What this is

A property is the per-let record that holds one rental's income, expenses and ownership share. You add one with a short wizard before you record any transactions against it. This guide is for landlords with UK property income.

Note: Adding or editing a property does not send anything to HMRC. The details sync on your next quarterly update. The app shows your due dates (from HMRC) on the Filing Calendar.

Before you start

• You need to be signed in.
• You need to be under your plan's limit. On Free you can have one income source in total (a property or a self-employment business). MTD Lite is unlimited. See Plans and pricing.
• Postcode lookup is optional. If it is unavailable you can always type the address manually.

Add a property step by step

1. Open Properties from the sidebar to reach the My properties page, then click the Add Property button in the header. (Once you already have properties, an Add another property tile also appears in the grid.) This opens the Add a property wizard.
2. Enter the address. Type a postcode and click Find address, then pick your address from the results. If the lookup returns nothing, or you would rather type it in, click Enter manually and fill in Address line 1 and Postcode. Both are required.
3. Set the acquisition date. Open the date picker (Pick the completion date) and choose when your purchase legally completed. This step is required and the date cannot be in the future. If you are unsure of the exact day, pick the start of the earliest tax year you will report (6 April of that year).
4. Choose ownership. Select Sole owner if you own 100%, or Co-owned if you share it. For a co-owned property you also pick who you co-own with: a Spouse or civil partner (defaults to a 50/50 split) or Someone else (set any share). See Co-ownership and shares for the detail.
5. Save. Click Save property. If the app spots a property with the same postcode and a similar address, it asks you to confirm before creating a possible duplicate. Once saved, you return to the My properties page with the new property in place.

Tip: The acquisition date matters more than it looks. It decides how far back your income and expenses are attributed to you and into which tax year, so set it as accurately as you can.

What happens after you save

• The property appears on your portfolio and you can open it to start recording income and expenses.
• Nothing has gone to HMRC yet. Your figures are built automatically from the transactions you record, and the property details sync on your next quarterly update.
• You can change the address, acquisition date or ownership later. See Edit or delete a property.

Co-ownership note

You set your ownership type and share while adding the property (step 4 above). You do not have to split it now: add it as a sole owner at 100% and invite co-owners later from the Ownership area, which needs the MTD Lite plan. See Co-ownership and shares for how invites, shares, and Form 17 work.

If something goes wrong

• The Save property button stays disabled. A required step is incomplete. Make sure you have an address, an acquisition date, and an ownership choice (and, for co-owned, the co-owner relationship). The hint under the button tells you what is missing.
• "Please tell us when you acquired this property." The acquisition date is required when adding. Pick a date, using the start of the earliest tax year you will report if unsure.
• "The acquisition date cannot be in the future." Choose a date that is today or earlier, and a real calendar date.
• Add Property shows an upgrade prompt instead of the wizard. You are at the Free limit of one income source. Upgrade to MTD Lite, or remove the existing property or self-employment business first. See Upgrading and managing billing.
• A duplicate warning appears. The app found an existing property with the same postcode and a similar address. Cancel and open the existing one, or confirm in the dialog to create it anyway.
• Postcode lookup returns nothing or an error. Click Enter manually to type the address, or wait a moment and try again.

Frequently asked questions

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