Becoming a Landlord Abroad: Finding and Vetting Tenants, Leases, Deposits and Collecting Rent Remotely

Published on: July 5, 2026

Please note: This article is general information, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Tenancy law, deposit rules and landlord tax differ sharply by country and change over time. Use a locally-drafted lease and confirm your own position with a qualified local lawyer and tax adviser before you let a property.

Owning a property abroad and letting one are two very different jobs. Ownership is largely passive, you pay the taxes, maintain the building, and watch it (hopefully) appreciate. The moment you put a tenant in it, you take on an operation: sourcing the right occupant, checking they can pay, drafting a lease that holds up under local law, handling a deposit correctly, collecting rent from another country, and staying on the right side of tax authorities who now have a reason to look at you.

This guide is about that operational reality, the landlord's day-to-day, rather than the maintenance-and-management side of simply owning. If your interest is keeping an empty second home in good order, see our guide to property management for absentee owners. If you want to earn income from the property, read on.

Finding tenants from abroad

Your first decision is what kind of tenant you actually want, because it dictates everything else: a long-term residential tenant (steady income, lower turnover, lower management intensity) or short-term / holiday lets (higher gross yield, far more work, and increasingly heavy regulation, permits, tourist taxes, registration numbers in many cities). For a remote landlord, long-term letting is usually the lower-stress path unless you have local help.

Where the tenants come from:

• A local letting agent. The default for remote landlords. They market the property, run viewings, vet applicants and often manage the tenancy. Expect to pay for it (commonly a percentage of the rent, plus a tenant-find fee), but for someone abroad it is often the difference between a functioning let and a disaster.
• Local and international portals. You can advertise yourself, but you then have to handle viewings and vetting remotely, hard to do well from another country.
• Corporate and relocation lets. In cities with expat demand, relocation agents and employers place vetted tenants on company guarantees, lower risk, though sometimes shorter terms.

Vetting tenants: the checks that actually protect you

Tenant selection is where remote landlords lose the most money, because a bad tenant is far harder to deal with from abroad. Whether you or an agent does it, insist on a proper referencing process before anyone signs:

• Proof of identity and right to rent where local law requires it.
• Proof of income, payslips, employment contract or, for the self-employed, accounts or tax returns. A common rule of thumb is income of at least 2.5 to 3x the rent, though this varies.
• Previous landlord reference to check payment history and how they left the last property.
• Affordability and, where available, a credit check appropriate to the country.
• A guarantor where the tenant is marginal, a parent or a paid guarantor service can backstop the rent.

Never skip references to fill a vacancy faster. A month's empty rent costs far less than six months chasing a non-paying tenant through a foreign court.

The lease: get it right for local law

A tenancy agreement written for one country can be unenforceable, or actively harmful to you, in another. Tenancy law is intensely local, and it usually tilts toward protecting the tenant. Before you sign anything, understand, for your specific country: the standard lease type and minimum term (many countries impose minimum durations and strong renewal rights), how and when you can end the tenancy (notice periods and permitted grounds vary enormously, and eviction can be slow), rent-increase rules (often capped or index-linked), and who is responsible for repairs and charges. Use a locally-drafted lease, from your agent or a local lawyer, not a template from home. This is not the place to improvise.

Deposits: usually protected, and rarely optional

Most countries regulate the deposit, how much you can take, where it must be held, and how quickly it must be returned. Get this wrong and you can face penalties or lose the right to use standard eviction procedures. A few illustrative examples (confirm current local rules before relying on any of them):

The pattern is the same across most jurisdictions: the deposit is not simply cash in your pocket, it is regulated money you hold in trust. Treat it that way.

Collecting rent remotely

The mechanics of getting paid from another country matter more than they sound.

• Local bank account. In many markets a local account makes collection, tax payment and dealing with utilities far smoother, and tenants prefer paying domestically.
• Standing order / direct debit in local currency removes friction and late-payment excuses.
• Cross-border payment and FX. If you repatriate rent regularly, small currency spreads add up, a low-cost multi-currency provider usually beats a traditional bank's exchange rate, and you can time or hedge conversions if the amounts are large.
• An agent or manager as collector. A managing agent can receive the rent, deduct their fee and any costs, and remit the balance, the simplest option if you cannot bank locally.

Whatever the method, build a clear paper trail: rent received, dates, and receipts for expenses. You will need it for tax, and for any dispute.

The tax layer: non-resident landlords are taxed at source in many countries

Here is the part that catches new landlords out. Rental income from a property is almost always taxed in the country where the property sits, regardless of where you live, and several countries collect that tax before the rent even reaches you.

• United Kingdom. Under the Non-Resident Landlord Scheme, your letting agent (or, if you self-manage, a tenant paying more than £100/week) must deduct basic-rate tax (currently 20%) from your rent and pay it to HMRC, unless you apply on form NRL1 for approval to receive the rent gross. Approval does not exempt you from tax; it just switches collection to annual self-assessment, where you pay on the profit after expenses. Non-resident landlords must file a UK return, and a property disposal must be reported to HMRC within 60 days.
• Spain. Non-resident owners file Modelo 210. Rental income is taxed at 19% for EU/EEA residents (who can deduct expenses) and 24% for everyone else (on gross rent, generally without deductions since Brexit for UK owners). Even an empty property triggers an annual imputed-income filing.
• France. Rental income is taxed under micro-foncier (a flat 30% allowance if income is modest) or the réel regime (actual expenses). Non-residents face a minimum 20% income-tax rate plus 17.2% social charges, so budget for a combined burden well above the headline income-tax figure.
• Turkey. Residential rental income is taxed progressively after an annual exemption (around TRY 47,000 for 2025 income), with the return filed each 1 to 31 March for the previous year. Short-term (Airbnb-style) letting is treated as commercial income, with VAT and a tourism permit.

And on top of the local bill: if you are tax-resident somewhere that taxes worldwide income (the UK, the US, and many others), you generally declare the rent at home too, usually with a credit for the tax already paid abroad under a double-taxation treaty. You typically end up paying the higher of the two rates, not both in full, but you must file in both places.

Should you self-manage or use an agent?

For a landlord living in another country, the honest answer is usually: use a managing agent for a long-term let unless you have reliable local help. The agent handles viewings, referencing, the deposit, rent collection, repairs and the day-to-day tenant relationship, the things that are genuinely hard to do well from abroad. Self-management can work if you have a trusted person on the ground, a single easy tenant, and the language, but it exposes you to exactly the situations (a leak, a non-payment, an eviction) that are miserable to handle remotely. The management fee is often the cost of the strategy actually working.

Frequently asked questions

Do I pay tax on rental income from a property abroad?
Almost always, yes, in the country where the property is located, regardless of where you live. Several countries (notably the UK) collect it at source before you receive the rent. You may also have to declare the income in your country of residence, usually with a credit for the foreign tax paid under a double-taxation treaty.

How do I collect rent if I live in another country?
The smoothest setups use a local bank account with a standing order or direct debit, or a managing agent who collects the rent and remits the balance after fees. If you repatriate the money regularly, use a low-cost currency provider rather than a standard bank to avoid losing margin on the exchange rate.

How much deposit can I take from a tenant abroad?
It is capped in most countries, commonly one to three months' rent, and often must be held in a regulated scheme or separate account rather than kept by you. The UK caps it at five weeks' rent for most tenancies and requires protection in an approved scheme within 30 days. Always check the current local rule.

Do I need a local letting agent?
Not legally, but for a remote landlord it is usually the sensible choice for a long-term let. An agent handles vetting, the deposit, rent collection and repairs, the parts that are hardest and riskiest to manage from another country.

What's the biggest mistake new landlords abroad make?
Under-vetting the tenant to fill a vacancy quickly, and using a lease that isn't drafted for local law. A bad tenant is far harder to remove from abroad, and an unenforceable lease can strip you of the protections you thought you had. Spend on proper referencing and a locally-drafted agreement.

Related reading on JanusHermes: property management for absentee owners, our annual property taxes by country reference, and the lifetime tax bill of a home abroad.

Sources & further reading: HMRC, Non-Resident Landlord Scheme and form NRL1, GOV.UK (UK); Agencia Tributaria, Modelo 210 (Spain); service-public.gouv.fr / impots.gouv.fr, micro-foncier and non-resident rules (France); Gelir İdaresi Başkanlığı, GİB rental income guidebook (Turkey); national tenancy-deposit rules (Tenant Fees Act 2019 and the UK deposit-protection schemes; French, German and Spanish civil codes).

Buying to let abroad?

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This guide is general information, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Rules vary by country and change over time, and the figures here are indicative. Always confirm the current requirements for your specific situation with a qualified local professional.

A note on the numbers: where no source is named, the market figures in this article (prices, yields, costs) are indicative estimates compiled from publicly available market data and industry reporting at the time of writing. Markets move and rules change, so treat them as a starting point and verify current figures with official sources before acting on them.