Letting your London flat from abroad: how the China Desk runs it end to end
Short answer: you can let a London flat while you live overseas, and you never need to fly in to do it. Our China Desk runs the whole tenancy on your behalf — viewings, referencing, digital ID, the tenancy agreement, rent collection and compliance — and reports to you in your own language. We handle the property; you approve the decisions. One all-in fee of 10% covers letting and management.
If your home is in Beijing, Shanghai or Hong Kong and your flat is in London, the distance is the whole problem. You cannot walk into our office, you cannot judge the local rent by eye, and you cannot sign a form in person. This post sets out exactly how we close each of those gaps, so you can see who does what before you instruct us.
Can I let my London flat if I live overseas?
Yes. Being a non-resident landlord is common and entirely legal, and we manage for around 55 non-UK-resident clients across roughly nine countries as at June 2026. What changes when you live abroad is not whether you can let the flat, but how much of the work has to move to us. We become your presence in London: the person who opens the door for viewings, meets the tenant, checks the paperwork and holds the keys.
One point of reassurance on price. Since 1 May 2026 the Renters' Rights Act 2025 requires the advertised rent to be stated up front, and a tenant cannot be made to pay more than that figure — rental bidding is prohibited. For an overseas owner who cannot read the local market by eye, that matters: the advertised rent is the ceiling, so the marketing figure we agree with you is the number that governs the tenancy. You are not exposed to a bidding war you cannot see.
How do you handle viewings and referencing when I'm not in the UK?
This is the part that worries most overseas owners, and it is the part we have built for.
Viewings are covered by our own team and by Viewber, a national network of vetted agents who attend the property, so a real person is always at the door — not a lockbox and a stranger. We photograph, describe and market the flat, then accompany every viewing and report back to you.
Referencing and identity are handled digitally through Goodlord and Credas. Credas verifies a tenant's identity electronically, which also solves your side of the problem: you can complete your own landlord ID checks and sign the management agreement from wherever you are, without posting documents or visiting a notary. The tenancy runs through Street, the CRM that keeps every step — enquiry, viewing, offer, reference, signing — in one auditable record you can be shown.
Behind all of this sits "James", our multilingual AI assistant. James speaks English, Mandarin and Cantonese, works 24 hours a day across chat, voice and WhatsApp, and is grounded — he cannot quote a rent or a date that is not in our live system, so he will never invent an answer to fill a silence. When your evening in Shanghai is our middle of the night, James still responds, and a human on the China Desk picks it up in London hours.
How do I get paid, and how do I see what's happening?
Rent is collected and held through LettsPay, an FCA-regulated client account, with Client Money Protection through Propertymark. Your money is ring-fenced, not mixed with company funds. We reconcile the rent monthly and send you a statement, so every payment in and every cost out is accounted for on a fixed cycle rather than on request.
Deposits are protected with the TDS, one of the government-approved schemes. Compliance — gas safety, electrical checks, the certificates a tenancy legally needs — is tracked on your behalf, and repairs are coordinated so you are not fielding a plumber's call at 3am your time. You approve the decisions that cost you money; we handle the arranging.
What about UK tax on my rental income?
We are lettings and management specialists, not tax advisers, and we will not guess at your tax position. Under HMRC's Non-resident Landlord Scheme, a letting agent normally deducts basic-rate tax from your rent before paying you, unless you have applied to HMRC to receive it gross — you apply on form NRL1i, and HMRC must approve it first (gov.uk). That single line is as far as we will take it. For the detail of how the scheme works, read our dedicated explainer on the overseas-landlord NRL scheme.
For your actual return, we route you to YWC London LLP, a firm of Chartered Certified Accountants in Chinatown. Susan Ren ACCA and her team are bilingual and handle NRL registration, Self-Assessment, Making Tax Digital and the UK–China Double Taxation Agreement. We take no referral fee for the introduction — we route you to a chartered accountant and are not paid a penny for it, because your tax advice should be chosen for you, not for us.
Do you speak Mandarin and Cantonese?
Yes. Our China Desk has Mandarin- and Cantonese-speaking staff, our full website is available in Simplified Chinese at /zh, and James handles chat, voice and WhatsApp in all three languages around the clock. You can reach us on WeChat at HarveyWJames. The point is simple: you should be able to ask a question about your own flat in your own language and get a straight, grounded answer — day or night, from a person or from James.
Who does what: the remote-landlord tenancy, stage by stage
| Stage | What HWJ does | What you do |
|---|---|---|
| Valuation & marketing | Value the flat, agree the advertised rent with you, photograph and list it | Approve the rent and the marketing |
| Viewings | Accompany every viewing via our team and Viewber; report back | Nothing — we are your presence in London |
| Referencing & ID | Reference the tenant and verify identity via Goodlord and Credas | Complete your own landlord ID digitally via Credas |
| Tenancy agreement | Prepare and issue the agreement through Street | Approve terms and sign electronically |
| Deposit | Protect the deposit with the TDS | Nothing |
| Rent | Collect via LettsPay (FCA client account, CMP); reconcile monthly | Receive the statement |
| Compliance | Track gas, electrical and required certificates | Approve any works |
| Repairs | Coordinate contractors and repairs | Approve spend above your agreed limit |
| Tax | Route you to YWC London LLP; take no referral fee | Instruct YWC directly for your return |
Speak to the China Desk
If you own a London flat and live overseas, the next step is a conversation, not a commitment. Contact our China Desk — ask for Hanna Yu — through /china-desk, or add us on WeChat at HarveyWJames. We will walk you through the marketing, the fee and the timeline in your own language, and show you the same audit trail your tenancy will run on. For the wider picture, see how we work with overseas landlords, what full property management covers, the technology and partners behind it, and how we set the rent valuation.
Sources
- Harvey W James Ltd (Reg 11169043), 1st Floor 415 High Street, London E15 4QZ — lettings and management facts, operational stack (Street, Goodlord, Credas, LettsPay, Viewber, TDS), and China Desk details as stated
- HMRC, "Tax on your UK income if you live abroad — Rent from property" (Non-resident Landlord Scheme; basic-rate deduction and form NRL1i) — gov.uk
- Renters' Rights Act 2025, section 56 (requirement to state rent and to avoid rental bidding), in force from 1 May 2026 — legislation.gov.uk
- LettsPay client account and Propertymark Client Money Protection; TDS deposit protection — scheme facts as stated