Hello Maggie
Or is there any merit in the view that the hire charges are wholly and exclusively for the purposes of the business
I would have thought not - i think there was a similar thread a year or two back on here that you may be able to find asking similar question.
The hire costs would be specifically in relation to said items covered by wear and tear - the hmrc wear and tear guidance in the manual doesn't specifically say purchase of assets - so i would say the quoted bit (below) equally applies to purchase or lease if you take advice given as being accurate- surely if leasing was ok it would be a commonly used tactic and confirmed as being ok somewhere in writing by some sort of Authority (other than Cartman) on the matter.
The 10% wear and tear allowance covers things like:
movable furniture or furnishings, such as beds or suites,
One point of interest is that hmrc have finally updated the Property income manual to update their thoughts on how things work now that how they used to be