noob question on expenses while working away from home

[breaktwister]

I'm noob, hi all. I've just taken my first IT contract role, 6 months rolling contract (I am told the work will last 18 months) in England where I will be staying during the week, planning to travel home to NI at least every other weekend.

My ltd will be paying directly for accommodation in England and I will be trying to rent a place fully furnished. However, until I find a place to rent I will be staying in some sparce apartments and I will need to buy things like bedding, iron and ironing board and I guess some things I have not yet thought off. It doesn't seem right to buy such items using the company credit card but I feel the cost should be reclaimable in some way.

I try to take a common-sense approach to figuring out what should be an allowable expense by asking myself "if as a permie my old employer sent me away from home for work would I expect them to cover the costs of the item/expense in some way?". In this scenario I would expect the employer to reimburse the costs as they are solely incurred due to business travel.

I have read a lot of guides and haven't found anything that might cover such personal domestic items. I do not believe that this situation falls under the "relocation" rules but I am open for correction on this.

My other thought is that the costs of such items could be covered under the £5 per night incidental expenses allowed?

But what about costs of larger domestic items, hoover, tv etc?

[TykeMerc]

You're a contractor not an MP, expensing stuff you would use to equip a home is a no-no. There's nothing stopping you putting anything through the business, but in the event of HMRC investigating you will need to convince them.

You can avoid buying the items you mentioned by renting a fully furnished place or using hotels.

As you said the £5 a day is intended for extras.

[NotAllThere]

...
I try to take a common-sense approach to figuring out what should be an allowable expense by asking myself "if as a permie my old employer sent me away from home for work would I expect them to cover the costs of the item/expense in some way?". In this scenario I would expect the employer to reimburse the costs as they are solely incurred due to business travel...

That may be the common-sense approach, but it isn't HMRC's approach.

Expenses must be wholly and entirely for business purposes. There must be no private use. There is no pro-rata for dual use.

If your company rents you a place and furnishes it with all domestic appliances, and you never use it when you're not working away from home, then that might be allowable. However, everything belongs to your company. To transfer it to your personal ownership you'll have to pay a reasonable market rate. Even then, if HMRC have the view that it's private use, then you'll be landed with a bill for the BIK.