Can I claim expenses for business-related accommodation within the UK?

Understanding the question: “Can I claim expenses for business-related accommodation within the UK?”

Business travel happens in every industry, from a one-night stay for a client meeting to multi-week projects away from home. In the UK, it’s common to ask whether the cost of accommodation can be claimed as a business expense and, if so, under what conditions. The short answer is that business-related accommodation can often be claimed, but only when the trip is genuinely for business, the cost is reasonable, and the stay meets the rules around allowable travel and subsistence.

The details matter. Whether you’re a sole trader, a partner in a partnership, a director of a limited company, or an employee who incurs expenses, the principles are broadly similar but the practical application can differ. The nature of your work, where you normally work, how long you stay away, and what you do during the trip all influence whether accommodation is treated as an allowable expense. This article explains how accommodation expenses typically work in the UK, what “business-related” really means, the difference between temporary and permanent workplaces, what counts as “reasonable,” and how to keep records that support your claim.

What counts as business-related accommodation?

Business-related accommodation is lodging you pay for because you need to be away from your normal base in order to perform work. In practical terms, this usually includes hotels, guest houses, bed and breakfasts, serviced apartments, and sometimes short-term rentals. The key is that the accommodation is required because of business travel rather than chosen for personal convenience.

A classic example is travelling from Manchester to London for a two-day training course that starts early and finishes late, making it impractical to travel there and back each day. Another is staying overnight near a client site because you’re attending meetings on consecutive days. In these cases, the accommodation is closely linked to the business purpose of the trip, which helps support the claim.

By contrast, if you decide to stay overnight purely because you prefer not to commute, or you extend a work trip by several days for leisure, the accommodation may be partly or wholly disallowed. Mixed-purpose trips are not automatically prohibited, but the personal element can complicate what you can claim and how you should apportion costs.

The core rule: the expense must be wholly and exclusively for business

When looking at whether an expense is allowable, a central concept is whether it is incurred “wholly and exclusively” for the purposes of the trade or employment. In plain language, the cost needs to be for business rather than personal benefit.

Accommodation is often allowable because it is a direct consequence of business travel. However, accommodation can also have an inherently personal aspect—after all, everyone needs somewhere to sleep. The deciding factor is usually whether the trip itself is a business necessity. If you are away because the work demands it, the accommodation is easier to justify. If you are away because of lifestyle choices or because you have chosen to live far from your work base, the “wholly and exclusively” link becomes weaker.

For employees, there is a similar concept: expenses must be necessarily incurred in the performance of the duties of employment. In practice, employer policies often mirror these principles, and many employers will reimburse accommodation only when the business case is clear. If you are self-employed, you decide what to claim, but you must still be able to demonstrate that the expenditure was for business.

Temporary vs permanent workplace: why it matters for accommodation claims

One of the most important issues in UK travel expenses is whether you are travelling to a temporary workplace or a permanent one. Accommodation claims are usually more straightforward when the travel is to a temporary workplace. They are more restricted when the travel is effectively ordinary commuting to a permanent workplace.

A permanent workplace is generally a place you attend regularly in the course of your work and that is not temporary in nature. If you travel to a permanent workplace, costs related to that travel are often treated like commuting, which is typically not allowable. Accommodation that arises because you choose to live far from a permanent workplace is usually treated as personal rather than business.

A temporary workplace is somewhere you go to perform a task of limited duration or for a temporary purpose. If you are sent to a client’s premises for a project or attend a course at a venue you don’t normally work at, that location may be temporary. When the workplace is temporary, travel and subsistence—including accommodation—are much more likely to be allowable.

It’s worth noting that a workplace can start out as temporary and become permanent if the arrangement changes. For example, a short project that gets extended repeatedly can cross a threshold where the workplace is no longer “temporary” in practical terms. If that happens, accommodation claims may need to be reviewed, and continuing to claim without reassessing can create risk.

Overnight stays and “subsistence”: how accommodation fits in

Accommodation is often discussed alongside “subsistence,” which broadly refers to the necessary costs of being away from your normal base for work. Subsistence can include food and drink, and sometimes incidental expenses. Accommodation is usually the largest part of subsistence when an overnight stay is required.

The logic is that if your work requires you to be away, you may need to pay for somewhere to stay and may incur additional costs for meals. For many people, the concept of “travel and subsistence” is a bundled idea: you travel to a business location, you stay overnight, and you eat while away. Each part can be allowable when the underlying business travel is allowable and the costs are reasonable.

However, bundling can cause problems if you treat any expense incurred while away as automatically claimable. The fact that you are travelling for business does not mean that any upgrade, luxury add-on, or personal expense becomes allowable. You still need to apply the principle of business necessity and reasonableness to each cost.

What does “reasonable” accommodation mean in practice?

UK expense claims are not typically based on a single fixed national rate for accommodation. Instead, the common test is reasonableness. A reasonable cost is one that is appropriate for the trip, consistent with the business purpose, and not excessive given the circumstances.

Reasonableness depends on context. A modest hotel near a client site for an early start may be entirely reasonable. A high-end luxury hotel suite for the same purpose may raise questions unless there is a clear business reason. Factors that often support reasonableness include:

Location and timing: Staying close to the work venue when travel times would otherwise be impractical.

Availability: Booking late when cheaper options are no longer available.

Safety and suitability: Choosing accommodation that is safe and suitable for working hours, especially when travelling alone or with equipment.

Industry norms: Certain sectors have typical standards of accommodation, though this should not be used to justify unnecessary luxury.

When you are self-employed, the “reasonable” standard is still relevant because claims that look personal or excessive may be challenged. When you are employed, your employer may have its own travel policy that sets caps or requires pre-approval. Even if your employer reimburses you, you should still ensure the underlying claim is defensible if it affects tax treatment.

Hotels, serviced apartments, and short-term rentals

Hotels and traditional accommodation are the simplest category because the purpose is clear and the invoices are usually itemised. Serviced apartments and short-term rentals can also be allowable when they are genuinely needed for business travel, especially for longer stays where a hotel would be impractical or more expensive.

If you rent a property for a longer business assignment, keep an eye on how the stay relates to the concept of a temporary workplace. The longer you are in one place, the more important it becomes to confirm that the location remains temporary rather than effectively becoming your work base. If the arrangement begins to resemble a regular place of work, claiming ongoing accommodation can become difficult to justify.

Also consider what you are paying for. A serviced apartment may include internet, utilities, and cleaning. These can be part of an allowable accommodation cost when they are included and necessary for the stay. But if the rental includes additional facilities used primarily for leisure, or you book a much larger place than you need for business, the “reasonable” question may arise.

Can you claim accommodation if you work away from home frequently?

Many roles involve frequent travel within the UK: consultants, engineers, trainers, healthcare professionals, construction managers, and others. If your work regularly requires you to move between sites, accommodation can be claimable when you need to stay overnight to perform your duties.

The key is to identify what your normal base is and whether each trip represents business travel away from that base. If you have a permanent workplace and you are travelling to it, accommodation is unlikely to be allowable. But if you have multiple temporary workplaces, or you are travelling to client sites for projects that are genuinely temporary, accommodation is more likely to qualify.

For some self-employed people, the “base” is their home or their main office. If you travel from that base to a location for a short assignment and stay overnight because it’s required, accommodation can often be claimed. But if you start spending most of your time working in a different city, it may be hard to argue that you are travelling away from your normal base rather than effectively operating from a new base.

Combining business travel with personal travel: apportionment and pitfalls

Business trips do not always stay purely business. You might finish a meeting on Friday and stay until Sunday to visit friends, or you might bring a partner along. When personal elements are mixed in, the key concept is apportionment: separating business costs from personal costs.

If you extend your stay for personal reasons, the additional accommodation nights are generally personal. The business nights may still be claimable, provided the trip itself is primarily business and the business portion is clear. If the presence of personal travel changes the cost of the accommodation—for example, you choose a more expensive room because someone else is staying with you—then only the business-equivalent cost may be claimable.

Similarly, if you book a larger property than you need for business because family members join you, you may need to restrict the claim to a reasonable business portion. Clear evidence helps: keep records showing what the accommodation would have cost for business-only nights and business-only occupancy.

Another pitfall is the “dual purpose” trip, where the trip has both business and personal motives that are inseparable. If the real motivation is a holiday and you add a small business activity, it can be difficult to claim accommodation. The more the trip looks like a holiday with incidental business, the more likely the claim will be challenged.

What about meals and incidental costs while staying overnight?

Although this article focuses on accommodation, it is common to claim related subsistence costs as well. Meals taken because you are away overnight for business are often allowable when they are reasonable. Incidental costs—such as minor items associated with the overnight stay—may also be allowable when they are necessary and modest.

As with accommodation, the costs should be linked to the business travel and should not be excessive. Alcohol can be an especially sensitive area: a modest drink with a meal might be treated as part of subsistence by some businesses, but excessive alcohol, entertainment, or anything that looks like a personal night out is more likely to be questioned. If you are reimbursed by an employer, follow the employer’s policy. If you are self-employed, keep claims conservative and defensible.

Can you claim accommodation if you have no office and work from home?

Many people in the UK are home-based, especially in professional services and digital industries. If your home is genuinely your business base—meaning you run your business from there and it is the place you normally work—then travel from home to a temporary workplace is often treated as business travel.

In that scenario, accommodation can be claimable when you need to stay overnight for work, provided the trip is for business and the cost is reasonable. For example, if you normally work from home in Leeds but you have a two-day onsite workshop with a client in Bristol, an overnight stay may be justified.

However, working from home does not automatically turn every trip into business travel. If you regularly work at a particular client location that effectively becomes your main place of work, or you spend most of your time in another city, that location may start to look like a permanent workplace. The facts and patterns of working arrangements matter.

Limited companies, directors, and employees: how claims typically work

If you run a limited company, accommodation can often be paid for by the company when it is incurred for business travel. For directors who travel to clients, sites, or temporary workplaces, the company may cover hotel costs and treat them as business expenses.

However, it is important to distinguish business travel from ordinary commuting. If you are travelling to the company’s permanent workplace—often an office where you regularly work—staying overnight because your home is far away is usually not a business expense. This is a common area of confusion for directors who set up an office location far from where they live. The fact that the company exists does not convert personal commuting into business travel.

For employees, accommodation is commonly claimed through an expense process. Employers often require pre-approval, booking through preferred suppliers, and itemised receipts. If an employer reimburses accommodation that is genuinely for business travel, it is often treated as a legitimate business expense. But if reimbursement covers what is essentially personal travel or living costs, it can create tax issues.

Sole traders and partnerships: claiming accommodation through business accounts

If you are a sole trader or in a partnership, you can generally claim allowable accommodation expenses as part of your business costs. The same principles apply: the trip must be for business, the accommodation must be necessary, and the cost must be reasonable.

Because you are both the business owner and the traveller, it’s especially important to keep clear records. An expense claim that simply says “hotel” without context is less persuasive than one supported by notes, dates, and a clear business purpose such as “overnight stay for client meeting at 9am; travel time made same-day return impractical.”

Also be careful not to claim expenses that look like personal living costs. If you take on work far from home and essentially live near the work location during the week, there may be a point where the accommodation becomes a cost of maintaining a second home rather than a travel expense. Where that line falls depends on the nature and duration of the engagement, and how your working pattern is structured.

Longer assignments and repeated stays: when does travel become “living”?

One of the trickiest areas is longer assignments where you stay away from home repeatedly. For example, you might work on a project in another city Monday to Thursday for several months. Initially, this may feel like business travel, but over time it can start to resemble ordinary working life at a de facto permanent workplace.

If a location becomes your regular work base for an extended period, claiming ongoing accommodation can be challenged as it begins to look like personal living costs rather than travel costs. In practice, you should watch for:

Duration: A “short project” that becomes long-term.

Regularity: A predictable routine of working in one place.

Expectation: If it becomes expected that you will work there for a long time, the workplace is less likely to be temporary.

Integration: You become embedded in the organisation or site as if it is your normal place of work.

If you are in this situation, take a cautious approach. Keep a clear timeline of the project, contractual terms, and any changes that extend the assignment. If the nature of the engagement changes, reassess whether continued accommodation claims remain justifiable.

What records should you keep to support a UK accommodation expense claim?

Good records make expense claims easier, reduce stress, and help you defend your position if questions arise. For accommodation, aim to keep:

Invoices/receipts: Itemised hotel bills showing dates, location, and charges. If possible, ensure the invoice is in the business name or includes your name and the stay dates.

Proof of payment: Card statements or transaction confirmations that match the invoice.

Business purpose notes: A brief description of why you stayed overnight, linked to a client, site, meeting, course, or project. A calendar entry or email confirmation can also help.

Travel details: If relevant, note why a same-day return was impractical (early start, late finish, distance, multiple consecutive days).

Apportionment evidence: If the trip had personal elements, keep details showing which nights were business and which were personal, and how you calculated the business portion.

In the UK, record-keeping expectations typically include retaining documents for a number of years, and if you are VAT-registered, you may also need valid VAT invoices to reclaim VAT where applicable. Even if you are not reclaiming VAT, a proper invoice is still helpful.

VAT considerations: can you reclaim VAT on UK accommodation?

VAT on accommodation can be complex. If you are VAT-registered, you may be able to reclaim VAT on certain business expenses, but only where the supply is VATable and you have the right documentation. Many hotel bills include VAT, and a VAT invoice can support input tax recovery where the expense is for business purposes.

However, not all accommodation costs are treated the same, and personal elements can restrict recovery. If the stay is partly personal, the reclaimable VAT may need to be restricted. Also, some items on a hotel bill—such as certain extras—may have different VAT treatment from the room itself.

If VAT recovery is important to you, ask for a proper VAT invoice at checkout and keep it with your records. If you’re unsure how to treat a particular bill, consider taking professional advice so you handle it correctly and consistently.

Common scenarios and how to think about them

The following examples show how the principles are commonly applied in real life. They are not definitive rulings, but they illustrate how to evaluate a claim.

Scenario 1: Overnight stay for a client meeting in another city

You live in Birmingham and have a client meeting in Newcastle at 9am, followed by a second meeting the next morning. You book a reasonably priced hotel near the client site for one night. This is typically a clear example of business-related accommodation: the travel is for work, the overnight stay is needed for the schedule, and the cost is reasonable.

Scenario 2: Staying overnight near your regular office because you live far away

You work in London three days a week at the same office and choose to live in Cornwall. You stay overnight in London to avoid long commutes. In many cases, this looks like personal choice rather than business necessity. The accommodation is connected to commuting to a permanent workplace, which is often not allowable.

Scenario 3: Extending a business trip for leisure

You attend a two-day conference in Edinburgh and stay two extra nights for sightseeing. The two conference nights may be allowable, while the extra leisure nights are personal. If the hotel rate changes because of the weekend, you may need to apportion carefully.

Scenario 4: Bringing a partner on a work trip

You travel to Cardiff for work and your partner comes along. If you would have booked the same room at the same cost anyway, the accommodation may still be treated as a business expense for you. But if you upgrade the room or book a more expensive option because of your partner, you should restrict the claim to what it would have cost for business-only travel.

Scenario 5: Long project with weekly accommodation

You take on a six-month project in Glasgow, travelling from your home in Sheffield Monday to Thursday and staying in a short-term rental. Initially, this can look like a temporary workplace with allowable accommodation. But as the project continues, you should review whether Glasgow is effectively becoming your main workplace. The longer and more regular the arrangement, the more important it is to reassess.

Expense policies and internal controls: making claims smoother

If you have employees, or you operate through a company, having a clear travel and accommodation policy reduces uncertainty. A good policy typically covers when overnight stays are permitted, how bookings should be made, spend limits, what receipts are required, and how to handle personal extensions and guests. Even if you are self-employed, setting personal “rules” for yourself—such as booking mid-range hotels unless there is a justified exception—can help keep your claims consistent and defensible.

Internal controls also matter. Keeping a simple process—booking confirmation, invoice, payment proof, business purpose note—makes it easier to produce a complete record. When records are scattered, it becomes harder to demonstrate that expenses were business-related, especially months later.

Red flags that can cause accommodation claims to be questioned

Certain patterns tend to attract scrutiny. If you want your claims to stand up well, watch for these common red flags:

Claiming accommodation near a workplace you attend regularly, especially if it looks like commuting.

Luxury hotels without a clear business reason.

Repeated long stays in one location without revisiting whether the workplace remains temporary.

Trips that look primarily like holidays with minor business activities added.

Missing receipts or vague descriptions like “work trip” without details.

Accommodation that includes substantial personal benefit (for example, booking a large property for family use during a project).

None of these automatically mean a claim is invalid, but they increase the importance of good evidence and careful apportionment.

How to decide if your UK accommodation is claimable: a practical checklist

If you want a simple way to assess a potential accommodation claim, walk through these questions:

Is the trip primarily for business, with a clear work purpose?

Is the destination a temporary workplace rather than your permanent workplace?

Is an overnight stay necessary due to timing, distance, or consecutive days of work?

Is the accommodation cost reasonable for the location and circumstances?

Do you have an itemised invoice/receipt and proof of payment?

Have you separated and excluded any personal element (extra nights, upgrades, guests, leisure add-ons)?

If you can answer “yes” to most of these, the claim is more likely to be defensible. If you are answering “no,” consider whether the accommodation is really a personal cost, or whether you need better records or a different approach.

When to get professional advice

Accommodation expenses are usually straightforward for short, clearly business-related trips. But if you have longer assignments, repeated stays in one location, complicated mixed-purpose travel, or you operate through a company with directors’ travel, it can be worth seeking professional advice. This is especially true if large sums are involved or if your working pattern is unusual.

A good adviser can help you interpret how the principles apply to your circumstances, set up a consistent approach, and reduce the risk of errors. They can also help you document your rationale for tricky situations, which can be valuable if questions arise later.

Conclusion: yes, often—but the details determine the outcome

So, can you claim expenses for business-related accommodation within the UK? In many cases, yes. If you travel to a temporary workplace for a clear business purpose and an overnight stay is genuinely required, accommodation is commonly an allowable expense, provided the cost is reasonable and properly documented.

The key is to treat accommodation as part of legitimate business travel rather than as a way to cover personal living or commuting costs. Keep good records, be careful with mixed business-and-leisure trips, and reassess longer or repeated stays to ensure the workplace remains temporary. With a sensible, consistent approach, your accommodation claims can be both practical for your business and aligned with UK expectations.