We have just had a tenancy end and the property was left very dirty and the garden had not been maintained. We have done all that was needed to get the property back to it’s original good, clean condition but have done a lot of the work ourselves. My question is, can we charge for our ‘man effort’ as an expense? Your thoughts would be appreciated. Many thanks.
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Sadly no, cannot charge for your own time. You can however charge for materials, if the work needed falls outside of normal wear and tear. If you had paid someone you could deduct/charge for their services, again allowing for reasonable wear and tear. Need a decent inventory to back it all up.
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Ah ok. Thank you Mark. We did have a comprehensive inventory done on check in, so were able to request some of the deposit to be withheld. This went towards getting the carpets cleaned professionally, but we were a bit too fair in what we requested. It’s all learning!
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Whilst you cannot claim own time as an expense for HMRC, you can withhold an amount from the deposit for cleaning.
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Actually you can claim for your own time for tasks that you would normally pay for, such as repairs or cleaning not carried out by the tenant. What you cant claim for is any additional time spent on administration or travel as thats the job.
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Really? I didn’t know that. Do you know how you put a price on this, IE could you base it on the hourly rate of a paid “professional”?
Well it has to be “reasonable” and like all charges on the claim are subject to moderation by the adjudicator. Ive heard of other landlords who have been successful with minimum wage rates for cleaning and basic tasks. I guess if its a more skilled task you make a case for higher rates and hope for the best
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My solicitor charges £250 an hour. He has defo “cleaned up”. Can we base it on that?
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Thank you for this David. It’s useful to know.
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David122 I guess I would then have to pay income tax on it? In which case there would be no benefit…… 
You can earn 1k pa as a side hustle before it needs to be declared for tax so cleaning etc could be your side hustle…
There would only be no benefit if your tax rate is 100%. It may feel like it but yours presumably isnt…
@David122 can you give us an idea as to where we can find details of this allowance in some documentation?
Its not so much an allowance, as just not a prohibited charge. I don’t know of any exhaustive list of costs you can claim for because there are many, but the deposit schemes may have some further information.
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well the reason I ask is that pretty much every source I’ve seen over the last 25 years has said that you can’t claim for your own labour. It would be good to have evidence that you can in the scenario that you are describing.
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I cannot see that you can charge for your own time . I seem to remember that i asked this of my accountant a few years ago. only setable against tax is if you pay someone else
I think David is recommending this only in the case of a deposit claim because then you’d have a way of accounting for it. Otherwise, you’re invoicing yourself!
Yes I understand that. Then you would have to declare it as income?
right, which technically cancels out the expense in terms of profit and loss but if you’re paying tax on your overall rental income anyway, it’s a way to offset the tax.
I believe that in principle a claim for a landlords own time in certain circumstances is allowable and that if a case were heard in court, this would be considered on its merit. However, a quick trawl through the three deposit schemes suggests that practice varies slightly. Below is a quote from TDS guidance:
“Generally, landlords can’t claim for their time and inconvenience; although a reasonable claim may be considered if proportionate and supported by
comparable examples.”
I understand that Mydeposits have a similar policy, but I haven’t been able to find a quote. DPS on the other hand appear not to allow claims for landlords time under any circumstances.
Hey don’t expect anyone here to give you a definite answer.
You are the captain of your sour. Do whatever you like and whatever makes you sleep well at night and face the music should it get to that stage.
Learn to do your returns yourself. You declear your total income. You declare your expenses. You declare any profit or losses.
If Uncle Sam thinks he needs to see your books, present your income vs expenses statement and be prepared to answer whatever question he has.
I believe our uncle has bigger fish to fry than looking for £500 expenses.
My point is don’t look for someone to justify the actions you have made up your mind to take or considering to take. You are in charge…. if you hire someone to do the work, I believe they won’t do it for free. In this case maybe you hired your brother or friend to do it. I don’t know, I wasn’t there. Your partner did it and you paid them. That’s your call.
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