Property Rental Income for Spouse Visa Financial Requirement

How Rental Income Fits the Financial Requirement

The Spouse visa financial requirement can be met through several categories of income and savings. Rental income falls under Category C: non-employment income.

Under Category C, you can use income from sources other than employment, including rental income, dividends, interest and other income from investments. The rules count the gross amount of that income received in the 12 months before the date of application. (Pension income is counted separately, on its gross annual amount.)

You can also combine rental income with other sources to reach the minimum threshold.

Conditions the Property Has to Meet

Appendix FM-SE sets conditions on the property itself. Rental income from property, in the UK or overseas, must be from a property that is:

• owned by the person relying on the income;
• not their main home, and will not become their main home if the application is granted; and
• where ownership is shared with a third party, counted only as to the income received from their own share.

There is one exception to the main-home condition. Where the applicant and their partner are both living outside the UK at the date of application, rental income from a UK property that will become their main home if the application is granted can be counted, but only in the limited circumstances the rules set out.

Two further rules in the same paragraph: assets or savings on which income is based must be in the name of the person, or held jointly with their partner, and must be held at the date of application; and equity in a property cannot be used to meet the financial requirement.

Because the specified evidence includes a rental agreement or contract and 12 months of bank statements showing the rent arriving, an arrangement with no written agreement or with rent paid in cash is hard to evidence in the form the rules ask for.

Evidence Required

Appendix FM-SE, paragraph 10(a), specifies exactly three things for property rental income:

• Confirmation of ownership: a copy of the title deeds of the property, or of the title register from the Land Registry (or the overseas equivalent), or a mortgage statement. This must confirm that the person, or the person and their partner jointly, own the property.
• Personal bank statements: for, or from, the 12-month period before the date of application, showing that the income relied on was paid into an account in the name of the person, or of the person and their partner jointly.
• A rental agreement or contract.

Nothing else is specified for this source of income. A self-assessment tax return and letting agent statements are not on the list for property rental income, though the rules do say separately that all income must be lawfully derived.

Where documents are not in English, Appendix FM-SE requires a certified translation. See our guide to document translation.

Gross vs Net Rental Income

The Appendix FM financial guidance on GOV.UK explains how income is assessed, and the rule itself is in Appendix FM-SE. It works on gross figures:

• The rules count "the gross amount of any specified non-employment income" received in the 12 months before the date of application.
• Appendix FM-SE paragraph 20(cc) adds that the amount of rental income received "before any management fee was deducted may be counted". So a letting agent's fee does not have to come off the figure.
• There is no rule allowing mortgage payments, maintenance, insurance or other costs to be deducted, and none requiring them to be. The figure the rules work from is the rent received.
• Equity in the property cannot be used to meet the financial requirement, and profit from selling a property is not accepted as income (though the resulting funds can be treated as cash savings if the savings rules are met).

Overseas Rental Income

Appendix FM-SE refers to rental income from property "in the UK or overseas", and accepts the overseas equivalent of the title register as proof of ownership. The evidence list is the same:

• Title deeds, the overseas equivalent of the title register, or a mortgage statement
• A rental agreement or contract (with certified translations if not in English)
• Personal bank statements for the 12 months before the date of application showing the rent arriving

Where income is in a foreign currency, Appendix Finance says it is converted into pounds sterling using the spot exchange rate shown on oanda.com for the date of the application. A short list of currencies that do not appear there (Syrian pounds, Mongolian tugrik, Iranian rials) is converted instead at the monthly Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office consular exchange rate for the date of application. Where there is income in more than one foreign currency, each is converted separately before the amounts are added together. See the specified evidence guidance on GOV.UK for details on what documents are accepted.

Points the Rules Turn On

• Empty months: the figure counted is the amount actually received in the 12 months before the date of application, so a period with no tenant lowers it.
• Cash payments: the specified evidence is bank statements showing the income "was paid into an account" in the right name, so rent taken in cash does not produce the document the rules ask for.
• Lawful source: Appendix FM-SE says all income and savings relied on must be lawfully derived.
• Joint ownership: where ownership is shared with a third party, only the income from that person's own share counts.
• Main home: income from a property that is, or on a grant would become, the person's main home does not count, apart from the narrow exception for couples both living outside the UK.

Next Steps

The evidence period is fixed: the 12 months before the date of application. That is the window the bank statements have to cover.

Related guides:

• Spouse Visa Financial Requirement
• Category C: Non-Employment Income
• Combining Income and Savings
• Spouse Visa Documents Checklist
• Which Financial Category?

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