How to Maximise Your Allowable Expenses as a UK Landlord

A UK landlord can deduct any cost incurred wholly and exclusively for the purposes of the property rental business, which includes letting agent fees, insurance, repairs, ground rent, accountancy fees, and travel to the property, but not mortgage capital repayments, improvements, or private expenditure. Most landlords underclaim, not because the rules are hidden, but because the smaller recurring costs never make it into the records. Understanding which allowable expenses landlords UK wide can deduct is worth more than any complex planning scheme. Blue Tick Accountants, a Guildford-based UK tax advisory and accountancy practice, works with landlords across the country to make sure nothing is left on the table. This guide gives you the A-Z of what you can and cannot claim, explains the capital versus revenue test, and shows the cash impact with a worked example.

Key Takeaways

• Allowable expenses for a UK landlord must be incurred wholly and exclusively for the property rental business and are deducted from rental income to arrive at taxable rental profit.
• Letting agent fees, landlord insurance, ground rent, service charges, accountancy fees, repairs, cleaning, gardening, utilities paid by the landlord, and advertising for tenants are all deductible in 2026/27.
• Mortgage interest is not deductible for individual landlords of residential property; instead it attracts a basic-rate tax credit at 20% under the Section 24 finance costs restriction.
• Capital costs, including improvements, the purchase price, and legal fees on acquisition, cannot be deducted from rental income and are set against capital gains tax on sale instead.
• Landlords can claim mileage for property business travel at 55p per mile for the first 10,000 miles and 25p per mile thereafter.
• From 6 April 2026, landlords with qualifying income above £50,000 must keep digital records and submit quarterly updates under Making Tax Digital for Income Tax.

What makes an expense allowable for a UK landlord?

An expense is allowable if it is incurred wholly and exclusively for the purposes of the property rental business and is revenue rather than capital in nature. Those two tests decide every claim.

The wholly and exclusively test deals with purpose. A landlord insurance premium is incurred solely for the rental business and is fully deductible. A mobile phone used for both business and personal calls fails outright, but HMRC accepts an apportionment where the business element can be evidenced. A weekend away that includes a drive past the property fails entirely.

The capital versus revenue test deals with character. Revenue costs keep the business running and are deducted from rental income in the year they arise. Capital costs create or enhance an asset and are not deductible from rental income at all, though they reduce a future capital gain. For the full framework, see our guide to allowable expenses for landlords.

Which expenses can landlords claim in 2026/27?

Landlords can claim a broad range of running costs against rental income, and the list is longer than most people record. These are the buy-to-let expenses HMRC accepts as revenue deductions:

• Letting agent and management fees, including tenant find fees and renewal commissions
• Landlord insurance: buildings, contents, rent guarantee, public liability, and legal expenses cover
• Ground rent and service charges on leasehold property
• Repairs and maintenance, including redecoration, boiler servicing, plumbing, and electrical work
• Accountancy fees for preparing the property pages of your tax return
• Legal and professional fees for tenancy agreements and lease renewals of less than 50 years
• Utilities, council tax, and broadband where paid by the landlord rather than the tenant
• Cleaning, gardening, and communal area maintenance
• Advertising and marketing to find new tenants
• Safety certificates: gas safety, electrical installation condition reports, and EPCs
• Licensing fees, including HMO and selective licensing charges
• Subscriptions to landlord associations and relevant trade bodies
• Bad debts from rent that is genuinely irrecoverable, once written off

One relief is easy to miss. Replacement of domestic items relief allows a deduction for like-for-like replacement of free-standing furniture, appliances, carpets and curtains in a let residential property, though never the first purchase.

What can landlords not claim against rental income?

Landlords cannot claim mortgage capital repayments, improvements, the cost of buying the property, or any private expenditure. These exclusions generate the most incorrect returns.

Mortgage interest deserves particular attention. For individual landlords of residential property, mortgage interest is not an allowable expense at all. Under the Section 24 finance costs restriction, it instead attracts a tax credit at the basic rate of 20%, applied after the tax on rental profit has been calculated. A higher-rate landlord therefore gets relief at 20% rather than 40%. Only the interest element qualifies; the capital repayment portion gets no relief in any form.

The other disallowed items are more straightforward. The purchase price, stamp duty land tax on acquisition, survey fees, and legal costs of buying are all capital, and belong in the capital gains tax computation rather than the rental accounts. Your own time and labour are never deductible, no matter how many weekends you spend decorating, because no cost has been incurred.

How do you claim travel and use of home costs?

Landlords can claim travel to their rental properties for business purposes, using either HMRC's mileage rates or a proportion of actual vehicle running costs. The mileage method is simpler and usually more generous.

The approved rates for 2026/27 are 55p per mile for the first 10,000 business miles and 25p per mile thereafter. Qualifying journeys include property inspections, meeting contractors, and visiting a letting agent. Trips with a mixed private purpose do not qualify, and a mileage log recording date, destination, purpose and distance is essential if HMRC asks.

Use of home is the other commonly missed deduction. A landlord who administers the business from home can claim a proportion of household costs based on rooms used and time spent, or use HMRC's simplified flat rate, starting at £10 per month for 25 to 50 hours of business use.

Worked example: what a full claim is worth

Consider Priya, a higher-rate taxpayer with a single buy-to-let generating £18,000 of rent in the 2026/27 tax year, with £6,000 of mortgage interest.

Her rental property tax deductions are letting agent fees of £1,800, landlord insurance of £420, a gas safety certificate and boiler service of £180, repairs and redecoration of £1,400, accountancy fees of £300, ground rent and service charges of £900, and 600 business miles at 55p, worth £330. That totals £5,330, giving a taxable rental profit of £12,670. At 40%, the tax is £5,068, less the Section 24 credit of £1,200 (£6,000 of interest at 20%), leaving £3,868 payable.

Had Priya recorded only the obvious costs, the agent fees and the repairs, she would have claimed £3,200 and declared a profit of £14,800, giving tax of £5,920 less the £1,200 credit, or £4,720. The £2,130 she nearly overlooked, the insurance, certificates, accountancy, ground rent and mileage, is worth £852 in tax at 40%. Over ten years, that is £8,520 of tax paid unnecessarily on one property.

The full list of what a buy-to-let landlord may deduct, category by category, is in our guide to allowable expenses for landlords.

How does Making Tax Digital change record-keeping?

Making Tax Digital for Income Tax is now live and changes how landlords must record expenses, not which expenses are allowable.

From 6 April 2026, landlords with qualifying income above £50,000 must keep digital records, submit quarterly updates to HMRC, and file a final declaration by 31 January following the tax year end. Qualifying income is gross rental and trading income before expenses, so a landlord with £52,000 of rent is in scope even if profit is far lower. Landlords above £30,000 join from April 2027, and those above £20,000 from April 2028. Those below the threshold file an annual return as before, with the 2026/27 balancing payment due by 31 January 2028.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can landlords claim mortgage payments as an expense?

No. Individual landlords of residential property cannot deduct mortgage interest from rental income. Under the Section 24 finance costs restriction, mortgage interest instead attracts a tax credit at the basic rate of 20%, applied after tax on the rental profit is calculated. Capital repayments on a repayment mortgage receive no tax relief at all in any form.

What expenses can landlords claim without receipts?

Very few. HMRC expects landlords to evidence expenses with receipts, invoices or bank statements, and a claim without support may be disallowed on enquiry. The main exceptions are HMRC's own flat rates: mileage at 55p per mile for the first 10,000 miles, and the simplified use of home rate, both of which require a record of miles or hours rather than receipts.

Can I claim expenses before my property is let?

Yes, in many cases. Revenue expenses incurred in the seven years before a property rental business starts can be treated as incurred on the first day of letting, provided they would have been allowable had the business already begun. Costs of getting the property into a lettable state may be capital rather than revenue, so the classification needs checking carefully.

Are accountancy fees an allowable expense for landlords?

Yes. Accountancy fees for preparing the property pages of a self-assessment return and for the rental business accounts are an allowable expense deductible from rental income. Fees relating to personal tax affairs outside the rental business, or fees connected with buying or selling the property, are not deductible against rental income.

Can I claim for replacing a carpet in my rental property?

Yes. Replacement of domestic items relief allows a landlord to deduct the cost of replacing free-standing items such as carpets, curtains, furniture and appliances in a let residential property. The relief covers like-for-like replacement only, never the first purchase, and any trade-in or scrap value received for the old item is deducted from the claim.

How much mileage can a landlord claim in 2026/27?

Landlords can claim 55p per mile for the first 10,000 business miles in the 2026/27 tax year and 25p per mile for any miles beyond that. Qualifying journeys include property inspections, meeting contractors, and visits to letting agents. A mileage log showing date, destination, purpose and distance should be kept to support the claim.

How Blue Tick Can Help

Blue Tick Accountants reviews landlord expense claims line by line, because the difference between a good claim and an average one is usually made up of a dozen small items rather than one large one. That review covers the capital versus revenue classification, the Section 24 position, and whether your record-keeping meets the Making Tax Digital standard if your qualifying income exceeds £50,000. Blue Tick also produces a free landlord expenses checklist covering every deduction in this guide, so nothing is missed at the year end. Head to our website and book a meeting now.

Conclusion

Most landlords lose money not to complicated tax rules but to unrecorded receipts. The costs that separate a full claim from a partial one are the ordinary ones: insurance, certificates, ground rent, accountancy fees and mileage, and together they can be worth several hundred pounds of tax a year on a single property. Build the habit of recording every property cost as it arises, keep the evidence, and check each item against the capital versus revenue test before the 2026/27 return is filed.

About the Author

This guide was written by Leon, founder of Blue Tick Accountants, a Guildford-based UK tax advisory and accountancy practice that helps landlords, limited company owners and the self-employed across the UK. It was last reviewed for the 2026/27 tax year.

This article is intended for general informational purposes only and does not constitute tax, legal, or financial advice. Tax rules are subject to change and their application will depend on your individual circumstances. You should always seek advice from a qualified professional before taking action. Blue Tick Accountants accepts no liability for decisions made on the basis of this content.