newhome

They may want you to but it’s not lawful for them to ask you to do that. If the labour and materials are on the same invoice HMRC won’t refund the VAT paid on materials. If they are insistent the only way is to have the materials invoiced separately from the labour.

Supply & fit invoices should be zero rated in their entirety in addition to labour only. You can’t reclaim any VAT charged on an invoice that is for supply and fit. You shouldn’t need a certificate to prove that work can be zero rated if you are a self builder. Most trades will accept a copy of the planning permission but if they really won’t there is a certificate here that you can use and adapt appropriately as it’s not meant for self builders. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/824616/VAT_notice_708_certificate_18.1_Zero-rated_and_reduced-rated_building_work.pdf More details about the certificates are here https://www.gov.uk/guidance/buildings-and-construction-vat-notice-708#section17

I have an EV single rate tariff from EDF. The standing charge is a bit higher than you pay but as a high user (electric heating, no gas) the kWh rate is more important to me. I pay 12.59p currently (I switched to them last October). I suspect that the rates have risen but I’m not sure by how much as my rate is fixed for a year. https://www.edfenergy.com/sites/default/files/ev_rate_card_go_electric_nov_21.pdf

Is that not permitted development or have those rights been removed?

You can submit ‘other evidence’ that can be a temporary habitation certificate that the building regs team can issue. I don’t know how close it needs to be to the building warrant plans to achieve this. Or you can use the entry into the Valuation List that happens immediately before you start paying council tax. In both cases your claim needs to received by HMRC within 3 months of the document being issued.

Yes it should be 5% on labour and supply & fit arrangements. I’m not sure what you mean about ‘not electricity’. Services should be 5% too as long as it’s a new connection. For materials on a supply only basis you pay 20% VAT but assuming that the project is eligible you can reclaim the 5% and 20% paid on eligible materials once the barn is complete.

I think that the chance of someone who is not a builder building 5 houses in 5 years is optimistic to an extreme. Regardless of the tax position he will presumably be getting a self build warranty that will be needed if his buyers need a mortgage. Most, if not all, have a clause in them requiring the owner to live in the property for at least a year post completion to prevent them from being used by developers to build houses to sell on. If the LA has implemented CIL then he can claim exemption as a self builder but he then has to live in the property for 3 years post completion otherwise he will lose the exemption and full CIL becomes payable. The rules for reclaiming VAT require you to have built the house for you or your family to live in. From the claim form: You are not eligible to use this Scheme if you: have constructed a property that either you, or your relatives, do not intend to live in yourselves but intend to sell or let out or use for any other business purpose HMRC appear to use the term ‘intent’ as the test here. If they deem that the property was built with the intention to sell then they could decide that it fails the test to be eligible for a VAT reclaim. That could be after 2 or even 3 houses have been built but losing the VAT refund is not something that most people will want to take a gamble on.

Yeah I was thinking about that. Depends when they issue the entry into the VOA though as reading the first post this is a conversion so the VOA entry could be done well in advance of the property being finished, which means that the 3 months might be up very early in the project before a VAT reclaim is feasible. People I know bought a very old house that had been empty for decades and the council started charging them council tax before they had even started the work to renovate it.

You should have your building warrant before you start any work on the house surely? It’s what defines the building method, specification etc. If your architect’s specifications can’t be met or are impractical then you need to amend the building warrant to show what you intend to do instead. It must still align to what’s been signed off in the planning application however and don’t expect those 2 areas to liaise.

Make sure that the washing powder is biological. I don’t recall a dishwasher in Zoot’s kitchen refurb ?. You can use dishwasher powder in hot water though. If that doesn’t work then maybe try something more abrasive.

They even make them new like this to get the rustic look. https://www.pavingandflooring.com/old-welsh-quarry-tiles

But as they are not complete presumably they are still owned by the developer? If they’ve exchanged contacts but not completed the new owners could sue the developer too.

I don’t think there is any ambiguity in what you asked but yes it’s always better to have something in writing.

After reading this utterly pathetic response from HMRC on their ‘new forum’ where they avoided a direct answer to either question initially and then still didn’t answer the first question asked I’m a bit surprised that you got a proper answer from them https://community.hmrc.gov.uk/forums/customerforums/vat/c2f76077-8b60-eb11-8fed-00155d975df7#00a94b09-6f65-eb11-a812-002248417250

You are lucky that he hadn’t made a start as you probably wouldn’t be eligible for an exemption in that scenario. Do speak to the CIL team and talk through what you want to do, and put confirmation of the discussion in writing afterwards. You can’t afford to get anything wrong with this.

That’s not correct. HMRC will refund the VAT paid as long as it’s been charged at the correct rate, they don’t refund partial amounts.

You need to pay 5% on labour or supply & fit arrangements. And standard VAT on materials. You can reclaim the VAT paid at the end of the project, both the 5% and 20% assuming your project is eligible. Have a read of the claim form and notes as it will help you understand a bit more. There is a specific part of the claim form that allows for the 5% to be reclaimed that is not present on the claim form for a new build. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/828048/VAT431C_form_and_notes__1_.pdf

Yes any start will trigger the CIL liability. Do not put a spade in the ground before you have the exemption and the council have confirmed they have received your commencement notice.

Welcome!

As a warning if you pay cash, check that your scaffolder has put the insurance cover on the kit and an official tag is attached to the scaffolding. Ours didn’t do either. We learnt a big lesson that way as we thought that by employing a registered scaffolder everything would be above board. We didn’t know that the scaffolding should have had a tag until someone fell off and we had health and safety out. The scaffolder had sneaked back the day after the accident and attached the tag and insurance details to the kit, dated the day after the accident. He told H&S that he had erected the scaffolding but not said that we could start using it which was a shocking lie as it had been there for weeks by then and we had evidence of communications telling him when the timber frame was arriving and his team erected it just in time. He had also been back a few times while it was being used. IMO scaffolders are one on the most difficult / untrustworthy trades out there so negotiate cash payments with eyes wide open!

You need to pay standard VAT on the hire element but the erection and dismantling counts as labour so can be zero rated. So your invoice needs to be apportioned. 30% - 50% zero rating seems so be what most people achieve. You can’t get ‘free’ hire in return for paying the labour costs. HMRC clarified that somewhere. https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/vat-construction/vconst02750

Welcome! I’m in the Scottish Borders too.

I want to switch to Octopus too. I’ve been on their list for over a year and they’ve told me that it will be a very long wait ?

Don’t you need a SMETS2 to take advantage of the time of use tariffs? Who put it in for you?

We didn’t ask for a single phase connection but the 3 phase connection here was £1261. A while ago now though.