Doing your updates
Mileage for landlords, explained.
If you drive to your rental properties for inspections, repairs or viewings, you can claim a flat rate for every business mile instead of working out fuel and running costs. Here's the rate, which journeys count, and how to add it to your Making Tax Digital update, even for a quarter you've already sent.
Checked against HMRC guidance on
The rates
| Vehicle | 2026 to 2027 | 2025 to 2026 and earlier |
|---|---|---|
| Car or van, first 10,000 business miles | 55p a mile | 45p a mile |
| Car or van, after 10,000 miles | 25p a mile | 25p a mile |
| Motorcycle | 24p a mile | 24p a mile |
The rate covers everything about running the car: fuel, insurance, servicing, wear. So you claim the miles instead of those costs, not as well as them. How many people are in the car doesn't change the rate.
Who can use it
Landlords who own property in their own name (on their own, or jointly with someone else) have been able to use mileage rates since April 2017. Two things rule it out:
- You let property through a limited company. Companies claim actual costs instead.
- You've already claimed capital allowances on the car. In that case you carry on claiming actual costs for that vehicle.
Which journeys count
A journey counts if it's only for your property business. For most landlords that means:
- Driving to a property for an inspection, a repair, meeting a tradesperson, a viewing or a check-in.
- Driving between your properties.
- Trips to buy materials for a repair, or to your letting agent.
A trip that's partly personal, such as calling in at a property on the way to the supermarket, doesn't count. Neither does looking at a property you're thinking of buying: that's part of the cost of buying it, not of letting what you have.
What it's worth
Say you visit three properties every other month, and each round trip is 20 miles. That's 6 visits × 3 properties × 20 miles = 360 miles a year. At 55p, you claim £198. If you pay basic-rate tax, that's about £40 less tax for the year, for writing down journeys you were making anyway.
The records to keep
Keep a simple log as you go. For each trip, note:
- the date
- where you went (from and to)
- why (for example, "gas safety check, Flat 2")
- the miles
A notes app or a spreadsheet is fine. If HMRC ever asks, the log is your evidence, so fill it in at the time rather than reconstructing it at the end of the year.
Adding mileage to your MTD update
In your quarterly update, mileage goes under travel costs. Multiply the quarter's miles by the rate and add the total. If your property income is under £90,000, you can choose to send all your expenses as one total instead, and the mileage is simply part of that total.
Mileage won't be on your bank statement, because you never paid anyone for it. So if your software works from your statement, you'll need to add it by hand.
Forgot to claim it last quarter?
You haven't lost it. MTD quarterly updates are cumulative: each one is your year to date. So you add the miles from earlier quarters to your next update, and the year's total comes out right. There's no need to go back and resend the earlier update.
For a tax year you've already finished and filed, you can amend that year's Self Assessment return. You usually have until 12 months after the 31 January filing deadline to do this.