Property Expenses

As a landlord you are able to reduce your tax bill by deducing many of the expenses you may incur when letting out a property. Some common allowable expenses include:

• Letting agents’ fees, accountants’ fees and legal fees
• Rent, ground rent, and service charges
• Gas, electricity, water, and other utilities

The expense should be incurred wholly and solely as a result of renting out your property. Where only part of the expense meets this condition, you will deduct that part from your income. This could be example if the cost of lighting and heating a property is partly used for private purposes as well as renting. If you only rent out part of your home, or only rent it out for part of the year then you will have to do your expenses according to this.

So, what are all the expenses you can account for? Below is an extensive list

1. Advertising
2. Agent / Management Fees
3. Mortgage Interest
4. Loan Interest
5. Bad Debts
6. Cost of Collecting / Enforcing Debts
7. Cost of services provided by Landlords: Gas, Electricity, Water, Services Charges & Rates.
8. Cleaning & Waste Disposal
9. Gardening
10. Rent and Ground Rent
11. Insurance - Building, Contents, Landlord etc
12. Repairs and Maintenance
13. Refurbishment that replaces existing assets (replace existing Bathroom, Kitchen etc)
14. Motor and Travel Cost - An investor can claim 45p per mile for travelling from home to the properties if they manage the properties themselves.
15. Other travel - train, bus etc.
16. Printing, Postage and Stationary
17. Subscriptions to a Landlord Association
18. Legal & Professional Fees - Not connected to the original purchase, preparing tenant contracts, eviction fees.
19. Accountancy Fees
20. Use of Home as an Office - Landlords often overlook the expenditure they incur in running their property business from home. If you have designated a room as your office you can get a deduction for rent/mortgage, light & heat, rates, internet but not water.
21. Replacement furnishings - the replacement of the original furnished items of a rental property.
22. Telephone / Mobile costs
23. Television licence provided by Landlord
24. TV Satellite provided by Landlord
25. Property Training - provided a portfolio is present at the time of training
26. Books & Magazines associated with property investing
27. Computer Equipment
28. Bank Charges
29. Gas & Safety Certificates
30. Hotel & Subsistence
31. Work Tools
32. Logo/Special Clothing