Landlord wants NI. number from me

Landlord Discussion
1

My landlord has asked for my National insurance number. I have been in here a week. I have attached the explanation they gave for wanting my national insurance number.

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Is it safe to give someone your National insurance number if they say it’s for their accountant and they are my landlord who have had a copy of my employment agreement with all my personal details on it.

2

Although it is an unusual request from a landlord I am aware of HMRCs landlords non-resident scheme. Essentially, it is for landlords that live abroad to insure that their rental income from UK property is taxed in the UK. The landlord has given a legitimate reason for requiring this information. Strictly speaking the landlord should have also given you a Privacy Notice to show that he has signed up to the ICO and is aware of his legal responsibilities with regards to data protection.

Best!

3

@Rebecca100

According to google ai this isnt needed

" Tenants do not have to supply personal tax or insurance identifiers to the landlord for this process. [1]"

Gov uk says same, extract below

I would not proceed with this landlord unless they can give you actual documentation from hmrc that says you need to provide your NI and this avoids you needing to pay the 25% to hmrc, and they are willing to give you their NI details in exchange.

I would check they are the owner and not a scam eg see

Ask for details of their accountant and their credentials, and evidence they are member of the scheme and advice from hmrc saying the tenant does not have to pay the 25% tax to hmrc if tenant’s NI is provided.

This is the hmrc guidance

“You do not need to calculate or pay tax on the rental income of a non-resident landlord if HMRC tells you the landlord is approved to receive rental income with no tax deducted. You should not accept a non-resident landlord’s statement that rental income may be paid without deduction of tax. You should only act on a notice from HMRC.”

Good luck

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No, the Non-resident Landlords Scheme (NRLS) does not require a tenant to provide their own National Insurance number to the landlord. [1, 2]

How the Scheme Involves You

  • If you pay more than £100 a week directly to a landlord living abroad (and there is no UK letting agent), you may be legally required to deduct basic-rate tax from the rent and pay it to HMRC.
  • The scheme relates entirely to the landlord’s tax obligations, not yours.
  • You do not need to share your personal National Insurance number for this process. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

What a Landlord Might Need

  • If a landlord asks for a National Insurance number, it is usually their own National Insurance number that they need to supply to HMRC on their application forms (like form NRL1) to process their own tax history—not the tenant’s. [1]
  • Never share your private National Insurance details unless it is for standard employment checks, a formal credit/identity check, or a verified right-to-rent process.
4

Thank you for responding. That helps a great deal. I’ll look into it more in the morning. Thanks again

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5

There are credit reference agencies which require tenants NI number to assist with accurate verification. It’s not that abnormal.

Rightmove referencing is one such example and I know historically openrent asked for it.

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6

N R L A recommend asking for a tenants NI number and have the field on their application form template. I think it used to be about tracing ex-tenants, but is now more about verifying employment and income. I’m not sure how though.

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I was a non-res LL for over 20 years and never once asked any Ts for their NINOs and tax was never an issue. Maybe things have changed since I came back 7 years ago but if so, I’d expect the LL to explicitly explain what value your NINO is to them. His explanation doesn’t actually do that despite being verbose.

I’d also be concerned that he seems to be attempting to manage a property himself while overseas. This is virtually impossible. If he’s not using an agent and is not there in person, then things could get messy if there are any complications with the property (e.g. another member of the shared house causing issues).