CA23060 - Plant and Machinery Allowances (PMA): qualifying expenditure: plant and machinery in dwelling house

CAA01/S35

Expenditure incurred on the provision of plant or machinery ‘for use in’ a dwelling-house is not qualifying expenditure for an ordinary property business, an overseas property business or the special leasing of plant or machinery.

The plant or machinery does not necessarily have to be located in the dwelling-house in order to be ‘for use in’ it. For example, if a landlord installs ground-mounted solar panels within the garden of a house he lets and the electricity generated will be used in that house, the expenditure will not qualify for PMAs.

There is no definition of “dwelling-house” for the purpose of CAA01/S35 so it takes its ordinary meaning. For a detailed discussion on the meaning of “dwelling-house” see CA11520.

Example

Bob is a landlord. He owns a block of residential flats and a nursing home. He buys:

  • new cookers for the flats;
  • a new communal fire alarm system for the block of flats; and
  • new beds for the nursing home.

His expenditure on the cookers is not qualifying expenditure and so does not qualify for PMAs because it is expenditure on assets for use in dwelling-houses. The prohibition does not apply to the fire alarm system for the block of flats, since this serves the common shared areas of the building, or the beds for the nursing home because they are not for use in a dwelling-house.