Foreign property bought from Bank repossession

Hi, We are both now UK residents and have bought a foreign property where my wife was born to rent out. We bought it as a bank repossession. Our surmise (but don't know how I could prove it) is that the bank just wanted it off their books. We lived in it as a holiday home for several months. We then decided to rent it out for income. However, it needed a lot of refurbishment before really being suitable for rental. As I understand it, the refurbishment costs, spent before the first rental, are usually considered as capital rather than revenue, if the property was bought at some kind of "discount"....even if these expenses would otherwise be of a revenue nature. At this stage (after the refurbishments and after the first rental), can we claim the revenue (not capital) expenses of the pre-rental costs were tax-deductable as revenue expenses against the rental income? Thank You.

Hi,

Yes, any pre trading revenue expenses can now be claimed. You can see guidance here:

PIM2505 - Beginning and end of a rental business: commencement

Thank you.