Buying UK property from Australia.

For some buyers the link is personal: family in the UK, a UK career before moving to Australia, or a plan to spend more time here. For others it is the appeal of a sterling asset with a well-documented legal process. Either way, the UK rules on this page turn on where you live, not your nationality.

PROXERA Wealth works across buy-to-let, below-market-value, new homes and off-plan, and short-term lets. See the current developments or our guide to investing in UK property. If this is your first UK purchase from abroad, our guide to buying UK property remotely explains each stage.

Stamp Duty Land Tax when you buy

Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) applies to residential purchases in England and Northern Ireland. Scotland and Wales have their own taxes, and the non-UK resident surcharge does not apply there. Two surcharges stack on the standard rates:

• Higher rates for additional properties, 5%. Added to every band if, after the purchase, you will own more than one residential property worth £40,000 or more anywhere in the world. A home in Australia counts.
• Non-UK resident surcharge, 2%. Added if you have not been present in the UK for at least 183 days in the 12 months before the purchase, on top of all other residential rates.

A worked example: an investor living in Australia who already owns a home there buys a £400,000 buy-to-let in England. SDLT is £38,000, of which £8,000 is the non-resident surcharge. A UK resident buying the same additional property would pay £30,000.

If all the buyers spend at least 183 days in the UK in a continuous 365-day period that starts no more than 364 days before completion and ends no more than 365 days after it, the surcharge may be reclaimable within 2 years. Your conveyancer usually files the SDLT return and pays the tax within the 14-day deadline after completion. Companies generally pay the higher rates, and a 17% rate can apply to company purchases above £500,000. Estimate your figure with the stamp duty calculator, and read our guides to stamp duty for non-UK residents, stamp duty on second homes and limited company buy-to-let.

Tax on your rent: the Non-Resident Landlord Scheme

HMRC classes you as a non-resident landlord if you live abroad for 6 months or more a year. Your letting agent must then deduct basic rate Income Tax from the rent, after the expenses they pay, and pass it to HMRC each quarter. With no agent, a tenant paying more than £100 a week must deduct it. To receive rent without deduction, you apply on form NRL1, and HMRC will not approve it if your UK taxes are not up to date. Either way, you declare the rent on a UK Self Assessment return unless HMRC tells you not to. Our Non-Resident Landlord Scheme guide explains the forms and deadlines.

Income Tax on your rental profit

Income Tax is charged on your rental profit: the rent less allowable expenses such as agent fees, insurance and repairs. An individual landlord cannot deduct mortgage interest; relief for residential finance costs is restricted to the basic rate, and this applies to non-UK residents. For 2026 to 2027 the rates are 20% from £12,571 to £50,270, 40% to £125,140 and 45% above.

Living abroad, you get the £12,570 Personal Allowance if you are a British or EEA citizen, have worked for the UK government in the tax year, or the double taxation agreement with your country of residence provides for it. The UK and Australia convention has no personal allowances article, so entitlement turns on the other tests.

From 6 April 2027, property income has its own rates of 22%, 42% and 47% (Finance Act 2026, section 7), and the government's technical note says Non-Resident Landlord Scheme deductions and finance cost relief move to the 22% property basic rate. GOV.UK says non-resident landlords cannot use HMRC's own online services for their return, so it is filed with commercial software, on paper by 31 October, or through an accountant. Model your figures with the landlord tax calculator.

Capital Gains Tax when you sell

Living abroad does not take a sale of UK property or land out of UK tax. For individuals in 2026 to 2027, Capital Gains Tax is 18% on gains within the basic rate band and 24% above it. You report the sale through a Capital Gains Tax on UK property account and pay any tax within 60 days of completion, even if there is no tax to pay or you made a loss; late reports can bring interest and penalties. Non-UK resident companies pay Corporation Tax on these gains instead. Try the capital gains tax calculator.

Inheritance Tax on UK property

Since 6 April 2025, Inheritance Tax depends on residence rather than domicile. If you have been UK resident for the previous 10 consecutive years, or 10 or more of the previous 20, you are a long-term UK resident and assets outside the UK can be in scope. If not, Inheritance Tax applies only to your UK assets, which include UK property, at 40% on the part of an estate above the £325,000 threshold.

Australia is not among the countries GOV.UK lists as having a double taxation convention that applies to Inheritance Tax, so there is no treaty relief for Inheritance Tax between the two. An adviser can explain how an estate that includes UK property would be treated in both places.

The UK and Australia double taxation convention was signed on 21 August 2003 and entered into force on 17 December 2003. It has effect in the UK from 6 April 2004 for Income Tax and Capital Gains Tax, and in Australia from 1 July 2004 for Australian tax on income and gains. It has been modified by the Multilateral Instrument, with effect in the UK for Income Tax and Capital Gains Tax from 6 April 2020, and the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding on arbitration under the Multilateral Instrument on 21 May 2021. We read the in-force text published by GOV.UK, which shows the Multilateral Instrument changes.

What the articles we have read say about UK property:

• Rental income, Article 6. Income an Australia resident derives from real property may be taxed in the country where the property is situated, and this applies to income from letting it. Real property includes a lease of land or any other interest in land.
• Gains, Article 13. Income or gains an Australia resident makes on selling real property in the UK may be taxed in the UK. So may gains on shares or other interests in a company, partnership, trust or other entity whose assets are principally attributable to UK real property.
• Relief, Article 22. Subject to Australian law, UK tax paid on income or gains an Australia resident derives from UK sources is allowed as a credit against Australian tax payable on that income.

In short, the convention leaves the UK free to tax your UK rent and gains, and sets out how Australia gives credit for UK tax. How Australia taxes your UK income is a question for an Australian adviser. We have not summarised the other articles of the convention.

Australia has three standard time zones: Australian Eastern Standard Time (UTC+10) in Queensland, most of New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory; Australian Central Standard Time (UTC+9.5) in South Australia, the Northern Territory and Broken Hill; and Australian Western Standard Time (UTC+8) in Western Australia. New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and the ACT move their clocks forward one hour for daylight saving; Queensland, the Northern Territory and Western Australia do not.

This season, daylight saving started on 4 October 2026, and the NSW Government gives 4 April 2027 as its end date in New South Wales. Legislation passed in 2007 harmonised New South Wales daylight saving with the south-eastern states and the ACT.

For a short spell each spring and autumn both countries are on summer time: from 28 March to 4 April 2027, and each October between the Australian and UK clock changes. Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra and Hobart are then 10 hours ahead of London and Adelaide 9.5 hours. Brisbane, Darwin and Perth do not change their clocks, so their gap to London moves only when UK clocks do. In the UK winter, 9am in London is 8pm in Sydney and 5pm in Perth; in the UK summer it is 6pm in Sydney and 4pm in Perth.

UK clocks go forward 1 hour on the last Sunday in March, into British Summer Time (BST), and back to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) on the last Sunday in October. The next changes are on 25 October 2026 and 28 March 2027.

How meetings work

Your first conversation is a call, booked online from the available slots. Most stages can then be handled remotely, including consultation, document exchange and parts of identity verification, and anything that must be signed or certified in person is flagged early. We reply to enquiries within one working day. Our guide to buying UK property remotely walks through each stage.