How to Claim Home Office Expenses in the UK (2026 Guide)

Quick answer

The UK home office rules changed in April 2026. The relief employees used to claim on their tax return, typically £6 a week, has ended for the 2026-27 tax year onward. The self-employed side is unchanged: simplified flat rates by hours, or actual costs apportioned. This guide covers both, the employer route, and records. Rules are from GOV.UK and HMRC in the Sources section, retrieved 10 October 2026.

Employees: relief has ended

From the tax year 6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027, employees can’t claim tax relief for working from home ^[1] . You can still claim for the four previous tax years, either a flat £6 a week or your exact extra costs, but only if you had to work from home, for example because your employer had no office; choosing to work from home, or a contract that merely allows it, never qualified ^[1] . Shared household costs such as rent or broadband were never claimable by employees ^[1] . Anyone who files a Self Assessment return claims through that return ^[1] .

The employer route

HMRC’s guideline amount lets an employer pay £6 a week, or £26 a month for monthly paid employees, to staff working regularly at home under homeworking arrangements, without needing evidence of the extra costs ^[2] . This has applied since 6 April 2020 and is unaffected by the end of employee relief ^[2] . For a director of their own company, this is the practical route to cover home working costs.

The self-employed: simplified flat rates

Under simplified expenses, a sole trader or partner working from home claims a flat rate based on hours worked at home each month: £10 for 25 to 50 hours, £18 for 51 to 100 hours, and £26 for 101 hours or more ^[3] . You can only use the flat rate if you work 25 hours or more a month from home ^[3] . The flat rate doesn’t include telephone or internet, so claim their business share separately from actual costs ^[3] .

Worked example: a self-employed designer works from home about 120 hours a month all year, so claims £26 × 12 = £312, plus 40% of a £40 monthly broadband bill, £192, for £504 in total.

The self-employed: actual costs

The alternative is to work out the business proportion of actual household costs, using a reasonable method such as the number of rooms used for business and the hours they’re used ^[3] . Keep the bills and a note of the method. The internet guide and phone guide cover the other home costs.

Records

Keep a record of hours worked at home for the flat rate, or the bills and apportionment workings for actual costs. Employers paying the £6 a week amount should keep the homeworking arrangement on file ^[2] . The record-keeping guide covers retention periods.

Common mistakes

• An employee claiming £6 a week for 2026-27 ^[1] .
• Claiming the flat rate below 25 hours a month ^[3] .
• Assuming the flat rate already covers broadband and phone ^[3] .
• An employee claiming broadband or rent ^[1] .
• Employers paying more than £6 a week without evidence of extra costs ^[2] .

Software that helps

ExpenseFlow captures utility, broadband and phone bills for a business by email, upload or photo, codes each line with a tax code and a written reason, and can apply a fixed business-use percentage you configure per account. It syncs to Xero with the bill attached, or to QuickBooks Online as a coded bill, after approval.