What capital allowances can I claim in my property rental business? Property rental business owners can claim a diverse range of capital allowances.

This is a freeview summary of those allowances with links to more detailed guidance. Subscribers click here for your detailed version of this guide.

Commercial property

Capital Allowances may be claimed on non-residential let properties:

• The Annual Investment Allowance or Writing Down Allowance may be claimed on qualifying plant and machinery.
• Finance Act 2021 provides for a Super-deduction of 130% and a 50% first-year allowance for plant and machinery expenditure incurred by companies between 1 April 2021 and 31 March 2023. 
• The owner of a commercial property may be able to claim allowances on capital expenditure incurred by the previous owners provided that it was pooled by the seller, see Fixtures overview.
• A Structures & Buildings allowance is available from expenditure incurred on or after 29 October 2018

Residential letting property

Claims for capital allowances can be limited for certin types of residential lettings business.

• Plant and Machinery allowances cannot be calimed for Property business involving a Dwelling house.
• Furnished Holiday Letting (FHL) is treated as a trade for Income Tax and not as 'ordinary property letting', the dwelling house capital allowance restriction does not apply to qualifying FHLs.
• A Structures & Buildings allowance is available for ordinary Properrty business.
• Landlords of furnished and unfurnished properties may claim Replacement of Domestic Items Relief instead of capital allowances.
• A landlord can also claim capital allowances on the cost of office furniture and equipment, including motor vehicles used in their own business, as a landlord, see Landlords: Capital allowances.

Choice of accounting basis

Claims for capital allowances are restricted for small property business who have not opted out of the Cash Basis, and claims may be restricted if fixed rate expenses are claimed too, see Accounting: Cash basis /fixed rate expenses?

 

Index to key guides

Guide	Details
Annual Investment Allowance	What is the Annual Investment Allowance? What are the limits? What expenditure qualifies?
Dwelling Houses & capital allowances	What is a dwelling house for capital allowance purposes? Can capital allowances be claimed in respect of a dwelling house? What expenditure qualifies?
Enhanced Capital Allowances: energy saving plant	100% allowance on expenditure incurred on energy saving plant and machinery.
Enterprise Zones: plant and machinery allowances	100% allowance on new plant and machinery
Fixtures: Overview	What are fixtures? How do I claim lost or unclaimed fixtures? When must fixtures be pooled?
Integral features: At a glance	What is an integral feature?
Plant & Machinery allowances	What capital allowances are available on plant and machinery? How do you calculate them? What are qualifying activities?
Replacement of domestic items relief	What is Replacement of Domestic Items Relief? When can it apply and what conditions must be met?
Super-deduction & First-Year Allowances	Finance Act 2021 provides for a new Super-deduction of 130% and a 50% first-year allowance for plant and machinery expenditure incurred by companies between 1 April 2021 and 31 March 2023.
Structures & Building Allowance (SBA)	Provides relief for capital expenditure on non-residential structures and buildings brought into use for qualifying activities.
Wear and tear allowance and renewals basis	Both withdrawn from April 2016. Residential property letting businesses are unable to claim plant and machinery allowances, and these provided an alternative form of relief.  Wear and tear allowance was only available to landlords of furnished properties.