Who we help
A VAT specialist for your clients' projects
Architects, planning consultants, quantity surveyors and structural engineers see the facts that decide the VAT rate long before a builder does. We are the specialist you can point a client to when a scheme looks as if it should not be 20%.
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The dwelling count is changing
One house into flats, flats back into one house, or any building gaining or losing homes. A different number of dwellings after the work can bring the 5% rate into play, even if the property was never empty.
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The home has been empty for two years
Renovating or altering a dwelling that nobody has lived in for the two years before work starts can be 5%. The clock runs back from the start on site, so the programme matters.
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A non-residential building is becoming residential
Offices, shops, barns, pubs and chapels turned into homes are conversions. The contractor's services are normally 5%, and a developer who sells the result may recover that VAT.
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Demolition and what is kept
A replacement house is only a new build if the old one comes down completely to ground level. A retained facade is allowed only where the planning consent requires it. Keeping other walls can lose the zero rate.
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Planning conditions on annexes
A new dwelling must be capable of separate use and disposal. A condition tying an annexe to the main house as ancillary accommodation defeats that, and the work is 20%.
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Your own fee
Architects', surveyors' and consultants' fees supplied separately are 20%, whatever the rate on the building work. It helps to tell the client early so the budget is right.
Why the VAT answer is cheapest before tender
You are usually the first professional to see the facts that fix the rate. The number of dwellings before and after. Whether the old building is coming down or being kept. How long the house has stood empty. What the planning consent says about separate use. By the time a builder prices the job, those facts are settled and the quote will often show 20% on everything.
Before tender, getting the rate right costs a short piece of analysis. The treatment goes into the pricing documents, every contractor prices on the same VAT basis and the client compares like with like. After invoices have been raised, a wrong rate has to be unwound through credit notes and corrected invoices from the contractor. The client cannot simply reclaim VAT charged in error from HMRC.
Three things are worth flagging to a client as soon as you see them:
- the number of dwellings is changing, in either direction
- the home has not been lived in for two years
- a non-residential building is becoming residential
None of them settles the rate. Each is a reason to look. Plenty of work, including extensions, loft conversions and the refurbishment of an occupied home, is correctly 20%, and we say so when it is.
How referring a client works
Get in touch through our contact page with a short description of the scheme, or ask your client to send us the quote and drawings directly. We tell them whether there is anything to pursue and which service fits, a qualification report or the full line-by-line analysis.
Your client instructs us directly, for a fixed fee agreed before we start. Our advice is given to them, and we share it with you when they ask us to. We work with clients across Kent, London and the South East, and nationally by email and phone.
Questions
Straight answers.
At what stage should a client speak to you?
At feasibility, or as soon as the scheme is settled enough to describe. The VAT answer can then go into the cost plan and the tender documents. It can also show where a small design or programme decision changes the rate.
What do you need to give a first view?
The drawings, the planning consent or application, a description of the building's current and intended use, its listing status and any quote or cost plan there is. For an empty property, an idea of how long it has been empty.
Does a planning condition really affect the VAT rate?
It can. A building is only designed as a dwelling for VAT if its separate use or disposal is not prohibited by the planning consent, and if consent has been granted and the work follows it. The wording of a condition can be the difference between 0% and 20%.
Do you get involved in design, cost or contract work?
No. We do not provide quantity surveying, cost consultancy, project management, certification or advice on the building contract. We work out the VAT rate and document it. Your role on the project is unchanged.
Next step
Refer a project or ask us a question
Upload your builder’s quote or tender. We look at the project and the pricing and tell you whether a lower rate is worth pursuing, before you commit to anything.
- Fixed fee, agreed up front
- Every rate tied to the legislation
- We'll tell you if it's 20%