FHL Capital allowances / wear and tear / preparing for rent

kernow1234

Hello all, as always, I turn to this forum to help me understand complex financial issues - so thank you again in advance for any help

My sister and I have been renovating our mum's old house with the intention of doing short term letting.  I have been reading about the advantages of registering as a FHL, including the above allowances, and have read the HMRC pages but somehow I get lost in the detail and language and am not clear on what we can claim on and how much we can claim on some of the expenditure we've incurred getting the house ready for rent and if we must claim in the same tax year that we have spent the money. 
New carpets throughout, a new bathroom, repainted inside and out, repairs and maintenance, many fixtures and fittings etc etc.

Any pointers or explanations would be most appreciated and really useful - thank you all!

Jeremy535897

So far as repairs are concerned, there are no special rules for FHLs, although there are capital allowances available for white goods etc. See:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/furnished-holiday-lettings-hs253-self-assessment-helpsheet/hs253-furnished-holiday-lettings-2022

For information on repairs deductibility see:
https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/property-income-manual/pim2030

This is somewhat old, but the principles remain valid, except for the fact that at this time, the accruals basis was always used:
https://www.taxinsider.co.uk/property-repairs-before-the-first-letting-what-is-allowable

Rental income and expenses are taxable and deductible in the tax year they are paid, unless you elect for the accruals basis to apply. A rental business begins when the property is first let, so anything paid in an earlier tax year has to be claimed as a pre commencement expense. See:
https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/property-income-manual/pim2505

kernow1234

Thank you very much for the reply - i’ll check out these links as soon as i have a moment