Can I claim my refurb as a revenue expense?

[a_wibberley_hotmail_co_uk]

Please can someone help!

I am in the process of buying my first property through my new ltd company. My guess is it will complete in 6 weeks or so. It is a 3 bed property that will be a single let. 

The property is perfectly habitable now and could easily be rented out as it is, however I want to do a fairly big refurb. E.g. replacing the kitchen and bathroom, new carpets, redecorate etc. This will mostly be a like-for-like refurb and I don't think the majority of it will count as a capital expense. 

If I do this work before I first put tenants in, am I right in understanding that I cannot claim this work as an expense as it involves getting the property ready to be let. However if I put tenants in first, then when they leave I decide to do the refurb, I now could claim this as an expense as the "rental business" would have already started. Have I got that right?

My big question is...

*What is the minimum period of time I would have to have a tenant in my property before I could class any replacement refurb work as a revenue expense?*

If I rent the property out on a 1 week AST, then do a big refurb, clearly this will turn some heads with HMRC. So what is the magic number? 1 month? 6 months?

I hope I can get some wise responses on this. Many thanks!

[Dino V]

My understanding is that that would be revenue, as the property is lettable and you're not adding to it e.g. extending it. There was a couple of cases with HMRC from after WWII related to a cinema and a boat - worth having a read, but I'd say you've got a cinema

[Debbie Franklin]

Spot on

[CameronK]

Hi, I'm in a similar situation but wanted to know if the revenue expenses go across tax years? I've spent ~£5k on a like for like refurb but won't be let out till January now and rent will only be £6.5k. Can I only claim that allowance this tax year or can I use some next tax year too?

[Dino V]

If it's a limited company, the loss will just keep rolling on until you make a profit after the loss. Not sure if not a limited company whether you can roll it forwards

[Debbie Franklin]

Yes you roll the loss forward