Double Glazed Windows Replacement / Capital Gain or Repair?

[Melboy]

Just in the process of doing my tax return and I know there was a discussion on replacing single glazed windows with double glazed windows and whether it was a "repair" or "capital expenditure"

Here is the official HMRC take on the subject.

An example is double-glazing. In the past we took the view that replacing single-glazed windows with double-glazed windows was an improvement and therefore capital expenditure. But times have changed. Building standards have improved and the types of replacement windows available from retailers have changed. We now accept that replacing single-glazed windows by double-glazed equivalents counts as allowable expenditure on repairs.

[Mortitia]

Is that true- well must be if you are writing it Mel!

I have been hedging on replacing 2 massive single glazed bays in an Edwardian property but will go ahead this summer.

The logic HMRC is using probably takes into account tenants freezing to death and spending loads on fuel as landlords won't replace windows for fear of 'betterment'?

[Carryon Regardless]

Mind the way things are going freezing them out might well be the easiest way in future.

[Melboy]

Mind the way things are going freezing them out might well be the easiest way in future.

Mortitia

It's true alright. The article is straight from the HMRC website which I discovered whilst searching for the definitive answer because I needed to confirm that UPVc d/glazed windows I fitted last year to replace rotton wooden single glazed windows were a "repair item" rather than a "capital gain"....... and there was the answer.