Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what information her Department holds on the total value of tax relief claimed under the furnished holiday let tax regime in (a) Scotland and (b) the UK in the 2023-24 financial year.

HMRC does not hold data on the number of furnished holiday let properties registered for tax purposes. Landlords are not required to register individual properties, or to declare the number of properties that they let.

Furnished holiday lettings currently have access to several tax reliefs that non-FHL property businesses do not, such as Business Asset Disposal relief. They also currently receive more generous treatment on finance cost expenses, as they are not subject to the finance cost restriction, and are able to claim capital allowances. However, they also have restrictions on losses which can only be used against profits from the same FHL business and not other property profits, which in some cases will mean they pay more tax as a result of the regime.

The most recent estimate on the overall amount of tax relieved as a result of the regime in 2023-24 was calculated at Autumn Budget 2024, and estimated the total tax relief in that year to be £165m, rounded to the nearest £5m.

This figure is for the whole of the UK. It is not possible to identify FHL properties located in Scotland separately to the rest of the UK.

This estimate was based on tax returns for 2022-23, and takes into account the various impacts of the regime mentioned above.