Outdoors Can Offer More
By Bradley Beer on 27 Dec 2013
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Property investors can benefit from backyard improvements
Photo: Arnold Masonry and Concrete
Over the holiday season, many of us will spend quite a bit of time entertaining and enjoying our backyard.
Whether you’re spending the hot summer weekends lying by the pool, having Christmas lunch with the family on your back deck, or planning to host an Australia Day barbeque with a gathering of friends under a covered entertaining area, remember that it’s more than likely the tenants of your rental property are doing the same thing.
Improving the outdoor area can add great value to a rental property and help to attract potential tenants.
Property investors also need to be aware they can maximise depreciation deductions by claiming on the eligible items in the front yard, backyard and balconies of their rental properties.
Deductions can be claimed on these outdoor assets as either capital works allowance or plant and equipment depreciation.
“Improving the outdoor area can add great value to a rental property and help to attract potential tenants.”
Some of the outdoor structures that qualify for the capital works allowance include retaining walls, fencing, sleepers, concrete slabs, patios, clothes lines, in-ground pools and above ground pools.
Examples of eligible plant and equipment items include outdoor furniture, garden sheds, garden hoses, garden watering systems, solar lights, pool filters and pumps.
If you are considering improving the areas outside a rental property, take special notice when removing and replacing old assets, particularly retaining walls, garden sheds and driveways.
Investors may be entitled to claim 100 per cent of the unclaimed value as a deduction and should contact a specialist quantity surveyor to calculate the values and construction costs of the renovation.
