Paving costs - am I able to put these as an expense?

[pinkellifun]

I live in a house that I rent from my father. When I was registering, the Ofsted pre-registration inspector told me that I needed to get the stones on the garden removed. My father agreed this was ok and they were removed and paved over (couldn't have just removed them). My father paid for this to be done because I didn't think I was allowed to put it through as a business expense. Recently someone said it could be put through. Is this right or can I not claim it?

[MrAnchovy]

If you use your garden part of the time exclusively for your business (that means you can't have your own children playing in it at the time), you can claim a fair proportion of maintenance costs, but not capital costs.

Clearing stones sounds to me like maintenance costs, but putting down new paving sounds like a capital cost.

Do you claim part of your rent? If your landlord puts up your rent/service charge you would be able to claim some of the cost that way :)