Owners will recall that prior to the 2012 budget, any pre-approved alteration to a listed building was free of VAT. The object of this concession was to protect the building from unsuitable change. Since 2012, and after the removal of this concession, the Club has monitored many thousands of applications for Listed Building Consent throughout the country and we have noticed a marked decrease in applications, particularly those involving internal (and out of sight!) alterations. Are we being cynical or are owners simply pressing ahead with unauthorised work which may be damaging to the building?

When the concession was removed, politicians had been told that listed building owners were using the system to build tax free swimming pools. The Club challenged this and the story was changed to say the time used by Customs and Excise to explain to listed building owners their entitlement was disproportionate to the problem. We have always challenged this as well. In our experience the only guidance given to owners was “refer to VAT Notice 708”. The Club’s VAT advisor Dave Brown has strong views on this.

When the change was first announced the Club asked English Heritage (EH) how they planned to fight this. Unfortunately their hands were tied as this was considered a political matter outside the remit of EH, however with the division of EH and the creation of Historic England we sense a change. Recently Duncan Wilson, CEO of Historic England wrote to the Times arguing that Michael Gove’s recognition that Brexit will enable the UK toproperly reward environmentally responsible land use and that future subsidies will be linked to benefits for society. Duncan went on to say that our environment includes both natural and historic features. Again this suggests that Historic England has a different brief to EH which has to be helpful to private listed building owners.

Of course we want the VAT benefit to be re-instated but under European law this minimum rate had to be 5% not zero. Although after Brexit, the situation may be different.

Read more on LPOC’s Campaign for Owners in The Listed Property Owners’ Manifesto.

DO YOU HAVE A STORY TO SHARE THAT COULD HELP SUPPORT THE CAMPAIGN?

If you have experienced difficulties with Listed Building Consent, been affected by the removal of the VAT concession or have experienced difficulties surrounding owning a listed property, we would love to hear from you. We are looking for owners who are happy to share their stories to highlight the difficulties owners face. Please contact us on 01795 844939.