Allowable Expenses for Landlords: The Complete List

Why Expenses Matter

Every pound of allowable expense you claim reduces your taxable rental profit by a pound. For a higher rate taxpayer, that saves 40p in tax per pound claimed. Over a year across multiple properties, the savings are substantial.

Many landlords under-claim expenses because they do not know what qualifies. Here is the complete list.

Fully Deductible Expenses

Property Management

• Letting agent fees and commissions
• Property management company charges
• Rent collection fees
• Inventory costs
• Tenant referencing and credit checks

Insurance

• Buildings insurance
• Contents insurance (for furnished properties)
• Landlord liability insurance
• Rent guarantee insurance
• Legal expenses insurance

Maintenance and Repairs

• Plumbing, electrical, and heating repairs
• Decorating and painting
• Roof repairs
• Window repairs and replacements (like for like)
• Garden maintenance between tenancies
• Pest control
• Damp treatment

Professional Fees

• Accountancy fees for preparing rental accounts
• Legal fees for renewals, disputes, and evictions
• Legal fees for lease drafting (not purchase)

Running Costs

• Ground rent
• Service charges
• Council tax (if you pay during void periods)
• Utilities (if you pay them — common for HMOs)
• Water rates

Compliance and Safety

• Gas safety certificates
• Electrical safety inspections (EICR)
• Energy Performance Certificates
• Legionella risk assessments
• Fire safety equipment
• Smoke and carbon monoxide detectors

Marketing and Administration

• Property advertising
• Photography for listings
• Stationery and printing
• Phone calls relating to the property
• Postage

Travel

• Mileage to the property for inspections, maintenance, and management (45p per mile for the first 10,000 miles, 25p thereafter)
• Parking at the property
• Public transport to the property

Financial Costs

• Bank charges on a landlord account
• Mortgage arrangement fees (spread over the mortgage term)
• Note: mortgage interest itself is NOT deductible — it receives a 20% tax credit instead

Replacement of Domestic Items

When you replace furniture, appliances, or furnishings in a let property, you can claim the cost of the replacement (minus any proceeds from disposing of the old item). This covers:

• Beds, sofas, tables, chairs
• Carpets, curtains, blinds
• Fridges, washing machines, ovens
• Crockery, cutlery, bedding

You can only claim for replacements, not initial purchases. And the claim is for a like-for-like or nearest modern equivalent — not an upgrade.

What You Cannot Claim

• Mortgage interest (as a deduction — you get a 20% credit instead)
• Capital improvements — extensions, conversions, upgrades beyond original condition
• Initial furnishing costs — the first provision of furniture
• Personal use costs — any proportion of the property used personally
• Clothing — even if you do maintenance work yourself
• Purchase costs — solicitor fees and Stamp Duty on buying the property (these are CGT costs when you sell)

Record Keeping

Keep receipts for every expense. Digital records are acceptable and easier to manage. If HMRC enquires, you need evidence for every deduction claimed.

Accounted makes expense tracking easy:

• Receipt capture via WhatsApp — photograph receipts and Penny categorises them
• Bank feed integration — expenses identified automatically from your transactions
• Property expense categories — pre-configured for landlord-specific costs

Check our pricing for property landlord features.

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Claim everything you are entitled to — not a penny more, not a penny less. Sign up for Accounted and let Penny track every allowable landlord expense.