VAT information

As you are probably aware, the Finance Bill 2012 was approved by MPs on the 3rd July 2012 and VAT relief on approved alterations was removed from 1 October 2012. However there were three major concessions as a result of our efforts together with those of other organisations:

1. Providing owners had applied for Listed Building Consent before 21 March 2012 zero rating will still apply for approved alterations until 30 September 2015. (initially a written contract had to be in place before 21 March.)

2. Even if Consent had not been applied for prior to 21 March, the ‘written contract’ concession mentioned above has also been extended until 30 September 2015.

3. The government have increased their grant scheme for repairs and alterations to places of worship by £30m, stating it will provide 100% compensation to listed places of worship.

The rules relating to the sale of a property that has been “substantially reconstructed” have also changed, but as this only relates to a sale that is by way of business, we have decided not to confuse the issue by detailing the fairly complex rules relating to this. Please ask if you consider that you may be affected.

There are still VAT advantages available for work on buildings that have been unoccupied for more than 2 years, for a change of use from commercial to residential use and for a change in the number of individual dwellings within a property – eg splitting a house into flats.

The Listed Property Owners Club retains our own VAT adviser who will happily talk you through the possibilities.