2026 Landlord mini-update (for freelancers with “a rental on the side”) 🏡

Lots of our clients aren’t “proper landlords”… you’ve just got one property that brings in a bit extra while you freelance. So here’s what matters in 2026: new rules are landing, and the tax treatment is still basically “is it a normal running cost, or are you upgrading the place?”

1) The Renters’ Rights Act: what’s changing in 2026 (in plain English)

The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 is rolling in in stages:

From late 2025 / into 2026 you’ll start seeing:

• More rules and paperwork for landlords

• A new private rented sector database (you’ll need to register and pay)

• More pressure around property standards (think: “is this place decent?”)

• Pets becoming harder to refuse (with limits on what you can take up-front)

• Rent increases limited to once a year (and you’ll need to give notice)

• Big changes to how tenancies work (less “fixed term”, more ongoing)
  In short: more admin, less flexibility, and more costs landing on landlords.

Gold Stag translation: being a casual landlord is getting less casual.

2) Can you claim tax relief for the extra costs? Usually yes… if it’s a normal cost

HMRC still uses the same basic rule:

✅ You can usually deduct costs if they are:

running costs and you pay them only because you rent out the property.

Examples that are usually deductible against rental income:

• registration / database fees

• additional letting agent or property management costs (especially compliance-related)

• safety checks and routine admin costs

Think of these as the “cost of keeping the rental business ticking over”.

3) Repairs vs upgrades (this is the bit that trips people up)

Here’s the simplest way to think about it:

✅ Repairs = tax-deductible (usually)

If you’re fixing something to put it back how it was:

• repainting after scuffs

• replacing broken tiles

• mending damage

That’s normally treated as a repair (a running cost).

🚫 Improvements = not an instant deduction

If you’re upgrading the property to something better than it was:

• big kitchen upgrade

• adding something new or significantly better

That’s usually treated as a capital improvement (relief comes later, typically when you sell, via CGT calculations).

Gold Stag translation: fixing = usually deductible. Fancying it up = usually not (right now).

4) Tenant damage (and pets): what you can claim

If your tenant (or their pet) damages the place:

If you fix it back to how it was ✅

That’s generally a repair cost → usually deductible.

If you replace items (sofa, fridge, washing machine) ✅/⚠️

You can usually claim a deduction for like-for-like replacement of domestic items (plus delivery/fitting and disposal of the old one).

If you replace it with something much fancier, the “extra fanciness” usually doesn’t get immediate relief.

If you get money back (deposit/insurance) 💷

If you recover costs via:

• the deposit, or

• insurance
  …that money needs to be shown as income/receipts in the rental figures (because you can’t claim a cost and also ignore the refund).

5) Make life easy: keep your rental separate from your freelance stuff 🧾🏡

This is the single best “future you will THANK you” move.

Even if your rental is just a little side-earner, treat it like its own mini-business:

Keep it separate (so it doesn’t become a bookkeeping soup)

• Keep landlord paperwork separate from your freelancing paperwork (different folders in Google Drive / Dropbox, etc.)

• If you can, have the rent paid into a separate bank account from your freelance business

• Pay rental expenses from that same account where possible (agent fees, repairs, certificates, insurance)

Why? Because when everything is mixed together, it takes longer to sort, it’s easier to miss expenses, and it’s harder to prove what relates to what.

Keep the bookkeeping separate too (simple is fine!)

You do not need fancy software for one property. A simple spreadsheet is absolutely fine.

A good basic sheet looks like:

• Total rental income (rent received)

• Expenses broken down, for example:

  • letting agent / management fees

  • insurance

  • safety certificates / compliancy checks

  • repairs & maintenance

  • replacement domestic items (like-for-like)

  • mortgage interest (track this separately from capital repayments)

  • any other property costs (e.g. service charges, ground rent if relevant)

Gold Stag tip: if you only do one thing this year, do this. It turns your “landlord on the side” into a tidy little set of numbers we can deal with quickly, and it massively reduces back-and-forth at tax return time.