Property repairs and maintenance
for landlords

Property repairs and maintenance is box 25 on the UK property pages. It covers keeping a let property in the condition it was in: painting and decorating, damp treatment, roof repairs, replacing broken fixtures, and repairs to furniture and appliances supplied with the property. Improvements, extensions and the first furnishing of a property are capital and do not belong here.

What goes in this category

• Interior and exterior painting and redecoration between tenants.
• Roof, window, damp and structural repairs.
• Replacing broken fixtures like for like, such as boilers, baths and toilets.
• Repairs to furniture and appliances supplied with the property.

What does not

• Improvements, extensions and conversions.
• Replacing furnishings and appliances, which go under replacement of domestic items relief.
• Work needed to make a newly bought, unlettable property fit to let, in some cases.
• Repairs covered by insurance or a retained deposit.

Items in this category

What counts as a repair

GOV.UK defines a repair as restoring an asset to its original condition, sometimes by replacing parts of it. Its examples include replacing roof tiles blown off by a storm, replacing a broken-down boiler and redecorating between tenants. Replacing with the nearest modern equivalent, such as double glazing for single glazing, is still a repair.

Improvements are capital

Adding something new or significantly better is an improvement: an extension, a loft conversion, a new bathroom where there was none, or a luxury upgrade. Improvements are not deductible from rent, but they count towards the property's cost for Capital Gains Tax.

Fixtures and fittings

Fixtures that are part of the building, such as baths, basins, toilets, kitchen units and boilers, are repairs when replaced like for like. Moveable items, such as furniture, carpets and appliances, are domestic items with their own relief when replaced.

Small items

GOV.UK allows the cost of replacing small items, such as cutlery, crockery, cushions and bed linen, if they are low value, have a short life and need replacing regularly, almost annually. They are part of the running costs.

Newly bought properties

Repairs to a property you have just bought are allowable if it was usable when bought. If the property could not be let until the work was done, and the price reflected that, the work is capital. Keep evidence of the condition when you bought it, such as the survey.

Insurance and deposits

If insurance pays for a repair, claim only the part the insurer did not pay. If you keep a tenant's deposit to cover damage, claim only the repair costs above the deposit kept.

Gas safety, electrical checks and compliance

Annual gas safety certificates, electrical installation condition reports, energy performance certificates and smoke alarm servicing are running costs of letting, allowable. They sit comfortably in repairs and maintenance or other expenses; choose one and be consistent.

Void periods and refurbishment

Repairs carried out while a property is empty between tenancies are allowable, as long as the property remains part of the letting business. A major refurbishment combining repairs and improvements needs splitting: the repair element is allowable and the improvement element is capital.

One total if income is under £90,000

If your total property income before expenses is below £90,000, the SA105 notes let you add up your expenses, excluding residential finance costs, and put the total in box 29 instead of splitting them between boxes 24 to 29. You still need the underlying records, and the costs that belong in box 25 are still only those allowable under the same rules. Making Tax Digital quarterly updates follow the same £90,000 threshold for a single expenses figure.

Records to keep

Keep invoices that describe the work, photographs for significant jobs, and a note of why any large job was a repair rather than an improvement. Keep improvement invoices with the property's purchase records for Capital Gains Tax.

Worked example: a year of repairs

A landlord pays £1,600 to redecorate between tenants, £2,800 to replace a failed boiler with a modern equivalent, £350 for gutter repairs and £90 for a gas safety certificate. Box 25 is £4,840. A £12,000 loft conversion the same year is capital.

Four questions before a cost goes here

1. Was it for the letting, and only for it? A cost must be incurred wholly and exclusively for the property business. A cost with a personal purpose that cannot be separated is not allowable at all.
2. Is part of it personal? Where a business part can be identified, such as business miles or business calls, claim that part on a reasonable basis and leave the rest out.
3. Is it a running cost or something you keep? Running costs belong in the expense categories. Buying or improving the property is capital and never goes here, though replacing domestic items has its own relief.
4. Is there a specific rule? Some costs are disallowed whatever their purpose, such as fines and client entertaining, and some have their own treatment, such as residential finance costs, which give a 20% tax reduction instead of a deduction.

Jointly owned property

If you own a let property with someone else, each owner reports their share of the rental income and expenses. Married couples and civil partners who live together are usually taxed on equal shares; if you own the property in unequal shares and are entitled to the income in the same shares, you can be taxed on that basis once you declare your beneficial interests to HMRC. Owners who are not married or in a civil partnership usually split profits by their share of the property, unless they agree a different allocation.

Property allowance or expenses

Instead of deducting expenses, a landlord can claim the £1,000 property allowance, which is simply taken off rental income. You cannot claim both for the same income, so the allowance only helps if your allowable expenses are less than £1,000. If your gross property income is £1,000 or less, the allowance covers it and you may not need to report it. Either way, keep records of what you spent, so you can tell which gives the lower profit.

This category in Making Tax Digital

Under Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, a landlord's quarterly update carries the same property expense categories as the UK property pages of the return, so this category is one line of each update. Landlords with property income only, or with property and trading income together over £50,000, join from 6 April 2026, falling to £30,000 from April 2027 and £20,000 from April 2028. If your property income is under £90,000 you can send a single consolidated expenses figure instead of the categories, but you still need the underlying records.

Cash basis or traditional accounting

The cash basis, the default for sole traders and landlords since 2024/25, counts a cost in the tax year you pay it. Traditional (accruals) accounting counts it when you incur it, whenever you pay, and treats things you buy to keep as capital, relieved through capital allowances. For most costs in this category the only difference is timing; for anything you buy to keep, the basis decides whether it is an expense at all.

Residential finance costs are different

Since 6 April 2020, mortgage interest and other finance costs on residential lets are not deducted from rental income at all. Instead, you get a tax reduction of 20% of those costs, which is worth the same as a deduction to a basic-rate taxpayer and less to a higher-rate one. Finance costs for commercial and other non-residential lets are still deducted in full. That is why the property pages have a separate box (44) for residential finance costs.

How much an allowable cost saves

Landlords pay Income Tax on rental profit but no Class 4 National Insurance, so each pound of allowable expense saves 20p at the basic rate, 40p at the higher rate and 45p at the additional rate. Residential finance costs are the exception: they give a flat 20% tax reduction instead of a deduction.

What £1,000 of allowable expense saves a sole trader in 2026/27

• Basic rate (20% + 6%)£260
• Higher rate (40% + 2%)£420
• Additional rate (45% + 2%)£470
• Allowance taper band (60% + 2%)£620

Records to keep

Keep the invoice or receipt for every cost in this category, with a note of the business purpose wherever it is not obvious, and how you worked out the business share of anything also used privately. From 6 April 2026, sole traders and landlords with qualifying income over £50,000 keep digital records and send quarterly updates under Making Tax Digital, falling to £30,000 from April 2027 and £20,000 from April 2028.

Common mistakes

• Claiming improvements as repairs.
• Claiming repairs the insurer paid for.
• Putting replacement furniture here instead of replacement of domestic items relief.

Every other category

The other 7 categories on the UK property pages, in box order:

• Rent, rates, insurance and ground rents (property), SA105 box 24
• Non-residential property finance costs, SA105 box 26
• Legal, management and other professional fees (property), SA105 box 27
• Costs of services provided, including wages (property), SA105 box 28
• Other allowable property expenses, SA105 box 29
• Travel costs (property), SA105 box 29
• Residential property finance costs, SA105 box 44

The A to Z of expenses lists every item and all 23 categories: the 15 self-employment categories and the 8 for UK property.