What was a furnished holiday let, and what changed in 2025?

So the honest answer to "what is a furnished holiday let?" is now a past-tense one. It was a special category that gave certain short-let properties more generous tax treatment than ordinary rentals. That distinction has gone. If you owned one, you're filing under the standard residential rules now, and the 2025/26 return you may be working on this year is the first to feel it.

This chapter explains what an FHL was, why the status used to matter, and what governs your property in its place. It's a definition worth keeping clear, because the term still turns up in older articles, agent paperwork and even property listings, but the tax meaning behind it has changed completely.

What a furnished holiday let was

Before 6 April 2025, a property could be treated as a furnished holiday let if it met a set of qualifying tests across the tax year. Meeting them moved the property out of the ordinary residential letting rules and into something closer to a trade, which is where the tax advantages came from.

The main qualifying tests were:

• Availability: the property had to be available for letting to the public as holiday accommodation for at least 210 days in the tax year.

• Letting: it had to be actually let as holiday accommodation for at least 105 days in the tax year.

• Commercial basis: the letting had to be on a commercial basis with a view to making a profit, not let cheaply to friends and family.

• Pattern of occupation: longer-term stays were restricted. Where the property was let to the same person for more than 31 continuous days (a "longer-term occupation"), those days were capped so they couldn't make up more than 155 days of the year.

The property also had to be furnished and located in the UK or the European Economic Area. A property that fell short one year could sometimes stay qualifying through averaging or a period-of-grace election, but the day counts above were the heart of it.

These tests applied for 2024/25 and earlier. 2024/25 was the final FHL year, and those returns were due by 31 January 2026.

Why the status used to matter

The reason owners cared about meeting those tests was tax. An FHL was treated more like a business than a rental, so it carried reliefs that ordinary residential lets never had:

• Full relief on mortgage interest, rather than the restricted Section 24 treatment.

• Capital allowances on furniture, fixtures and equipment.

• Profits that counted as relevant earnings for pension contributions.

• More flexible profit splitting between joint owners.

• Several Capital Gains Tax reliefs on sale, including Business Asset Disposal Relief.

That's the short version. Each of these has its own story now that the regime has ended, and they're covered properly in the next chapters. The point for a definition is simply this: the FHL label existed because it bought you a better tax position, and that's exactly what was taken away.

What changed in 2025

From the dates above, the FHL regime ceased to apply. There's no longer a separate holiday-let category in the tax system at all.

In practice, that means every residential property is now taxed the same way, whoever the tenant is and however short their stay. A cottage let by the week to holidaymakers, a flat on a rolling short let, and a house on a 12-month assured shorthold tenancy all sit under one set of rules. The old advantages, the day-count tests, the separate loss pool: all of it stopped at the regime's end.

So if your starting question was "does my property still qualify as an FHL?", the answer is that qualification is no longer a thing. There's nothing to qualify for. What matters now is understanding the standard residential rules your property already falls under, because for many former FHL owners those rules produce a noticeably bigger tax bill.

What this means for you now

If you owned a holiday let, the change shows up in three places, each with its own chapter:

• Your tax bill. Mortgage interest moves to Section 24, profits split strictly by ownership share, holiday-let income stops counting toward pension contributions, and losses are ring-fenced to your property business. These are the changes most likely to push your bill up. See how holiday lets are taxed now.

• What you can claim. Capital allowances are gone, replaced by the narrower replacement of domestic items relief. The line between a deductible repair and a non-deductible upgrade matters more than it used to. See what you can claim now: expenses and capital allowances.

• Whether to sell, hold or incorporate. With the old Capital Gains Tax reliefs withdrawn, the decision about what to do with the property has shifted. See sell, hold, or incorporate?.

Reporting historic FHL periods

The abolition doesn't rewrite the past. If you had FHL income in 2024/25 or earlier, those years are still reported under the FHL rules that applied at the time, through standard Self Assessment for the relevant year.

If you need to correct one of those returns, the usual amendment window applies: you generally have until 31 January, two years after the end of the tax year, to amend a Self Assessment return. For 2024/25, that runs to 31 January 2027.

From 2025/26 onwards, there's no FHL category to report at all. Your holiday let simply forms part of your single residential property business. For how to record a former holiday let in practice, including what to do with a property still tagged "FHL" in your records, see the help guide on furnished holiday lets.

Frequently asked questions

Is a furnished holiday let still a thing in 2026?

Not for tax. The FHL category was abolished from 6 April 2025, so there is nothing left to qualify for. The term still appears in older articles, agent paperwork and listings, but it no longer changes how your property is taxed.

What were the qualifying tests for a furnished holiday let?

Broadly: the property had to be available for holiday letting for at least 210 days a year, actually let for at least 105 days, let on a commercial basis, and not tied up in longer-term occupation beyond 155 days. It also had to be furnished and in the UK or the European Economic Area.

How is a former furnished holiday let taxed now?

As standard residential property. Mortgage interest falls under Section 24, capital allowances no longer apply, profit follows ownership share, and standard residential Capital Gains Tax applies on a sale.

Do I still report 2024/25 under the old rules?

Yes. 2024/25 and earlier are reported under the FHL rules that applied at the time. Only 2025/26 onwards drops the FHL treatment.

Most people reading this arrived expecting to confirm a status that, as it turns out, no longer exists. If that's left you wondering what your next return actually looks like without it, the chapters above walk through the bill, the claims and the bigger decisions. And if you'd rather talk your own position through with someone who handles former holiday lets every day, a consultation is the place to start.