Scope: income tax on property profits applies UK-wide; Scotland sets its own rates and bands. 2026/27 tax year.
Every landlord expense falls on one side of a line. Get the side wrong and you either overpay now or claim something HMRC will disallow later.
The line
- Revenue (allowable): restoring the property to its previous condition. Deducted from rental income in the year you incur it.
- Capital: improving the property beyond its previous condition, or creating something that was not there. Not deductible against rental income — it goes into the base cost and reduces the gain when you sell.
The test is not the size of the bill. It is whether you have restored or improved.
The new boiler
The classic. A boiler dies and you replace it.
Usually a repair. The property had a working heating system and now has a working heating system again. That the new one is condensing, more efficient and better than a 2004 model does not make it an improvement — you cannot buy a 2004 boiler, and HMRC accepts that replacing with the nearest modern equivalent is still a repair.
It becomes capital when you go beyond equivalence: replacing a boiler that heated four radiators with a system heating a new extension, or moving from an old back boiler to a full pressurised system with a new cylinder and pipework as part of a wider upgrade.
The new kitchen
The one that costs people money, because the answer is both.
Repair where you replace a worn kitchen with a similar-standard one: units, worktops, sink, tiling, flooring, the same layout. Standard replacements at modern equivalent quality.
Capital where the work improves: upgrading from a basic to a high-end kitchen, knocking through to enlarge the room, adding units where there were none.
A single invoice can contain both. If the fitter replaces like for like and adds an island that was not there, split it. Ask for an itemised invoice at the time — reconstructing the split years later, under enquiry, is a much worse conversation.
The rest, quickly
| Revenue | Capital |
|---|---|
| Repainting, redecorating | First-time central heating |
| Replacing a broken window like for like | Single glazing to double glazing as an upgrade |
| Roof repairs | A new roof as part of a rebuild |
| Damp-proofing an existing problem | An extension or a loft conversion |
| Replacing a worn carpet | Carpeting a newly built room |
| Letting agent fees, insurance, ground rent | Legal and survey fees on purchase |
| Accountancy for the rental accounts | Stamp duty / LTT on purchase |
Two traps worth naming
Pre-letting repairs on a derelict purchase
Buy something uninhabitable at a price that reflects it, and the work to make it lettable is generally capital, not a repair — you paid less precisely because the work was needed. Buy a lettable property and repaint before the first tenant, and that is normally revenue.
Double-claiming
A capital cost reduces the gain on sale. Claiming it as a revenue expense as well is not conservative accounting, it is an error in both returns.
Furnishings are a separate regime
Sofas, beds, white goods and curtains are not repairs at all — they fall under replacement of domestic items relief, which has its own rules and its own trap around the initial purchase.
The £1,000 property allowance
You may instead claim the £1,000 property income allowance against gross rents. Take it and you deduct no actual expenses. It is worth it only where real costs are under £1,000, which for a mortgaged let is close to never.
Keep the invoices with the property. Landlord HQ holds documents per property, which is what an itemised kitchen invoice needs four years from now. See what it costs.
Information tool, not tax advice. Borderline cases turn on facts; take advice.