self assessment questions: rented property

SayangAlly

Been reading through all sorts of useful posts and responses in this 'ere forum - thanks all, but no-one's had quite the same queries as me and I'm struggling to understand HMRC's advice pages (lots of ifs buts and whatnots)

I let a room in my house in Leeds for 6 months while I was living there, for rent well under the rent a room limit. Then I got a job in London and moved to a rented flat, putting the Leeds house on the rental market as a furnished property. I let it a couple of months later, and had rental income for 4 months from the whole property. I was doing quite a lot of repairs and maintenance to the house throughout the year. I think I've got my head round what's an allowable expense and what isn't (agent fees, mortgage interest, work that maintains the state of the house/prevents deterioration or repairs damage but doesn't improve the house are all OK - that right?).

What happens in the SA form when it asks about private use adjustment? I did live there for a while but decided not to 'allocate' the lodger income to 'rent a room' because it is better for me to be able to account for all the expenses etc throughout the year. However, will I only be able to claim 50% of the expenses, or how do I work out a proportion? Is there any guidance anywhere about this concept of 'a proportion' - it seems to come up a lot in the guidance without pointers about what the proportion actually is...

Also, could someone explain what the 10% wear and tear allowance actually is, what it's 10% of, and what it excludes when it says you then can't claim capital allowances...

I just thought I'd got it all sorted, and now I'm confused again - grateful for advice

Thanks

scottn

10% allowance is based on 10% of the actual rent received, this can be offset against the rental income you get if the property is let fully furnished, this reduces your profit and so the amount of tax due. If you claim the 10% allowance you can't then use costs such as buying a new sofa etc in your accounts. hope that makes sense. also i dont think you can pick and choose between the 10% wear and tear allowance and capital allowances - you stick with one method and use it year to year