Areas · Tunbridge Wells
Construction VAT consultant for Tunbridge Wells
Tunbridge Wells is a town of large period villas, many of them divided into flats and some now being returned to single houses. Both directions change the number of dwellings, and that can bring the 5% rate into play. We work out the rate for each project, line by line.
The projects we see in Tunbridge Wells
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Villas divided into flats
Splitting a single Victorian or Georgian house into self-contained flats changes the number of dwellings. The contractor's services can be 5%, whether or not the house was empty.
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Flats returned to a single house
The rule works in reverse. Combining flats back into one family house also changes the number of dwellings, and the work can be 5%. Many owners and builders do not know this.
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Listed buildings and conservation areas
Listing gives no VAT relief by itself. Alterations and repairs to a listed villa are 20% unless the project qualifies another way, such as a change in the number of dwellings or two years empty.
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Offices above shops into flats
Upper floors in the town centre converted from offices into flats are normally 5% on the contractor's services. Work to the shop below stays at 20%, so the job is apportioned.
Period villas and the number of dwellings
The typical Tunbridge Wells project involves a large period house. Some were divided into flats decades ago. Some are being divided now. Others are being bought as flats and put back together as a single home. For VAT, the question that matters is whether the number of dwellings in the building is changing.
If it is, the work may be a changed number of dwellings conversion. After the work the building must contain a different number of single household dwellings than before, and at least one. One house into four flats qualifies. Four flats into one house qualifies. The property does not have to have been empty. Where the conditions are met, the contractor's services and the building materials they supply are 5%.
This is the rule most often missed. A builder sees a refurbishment of an existing residential building and quotes 20%. Our guide to houses into flats explains the tests. Each new dwelling has to be self-contained, and the planning consent and building control approval the work needs must be in place.
Listed buildings and the town centre
A good deal of the town is listed or sits within a conservation area. Neither status lowers the VAT. The zero rate for approved alterations to listed buildings ended on 1 October 2012, and repair and maintenance has always been 20%. A listed villa only gets a lower rate where the project qualifies by another route.
In the town centre, upper floors used as offices or storage are often converted into flats. That is a commercial to residential conversion, normally 5% on the contractor's services. If the same contract includes work to the shop, the shop work is 20% and the price is apportioned on a fair and reasonable basis.
Working with us
We work with clients in Tunbridge Wells and nationally by email and phone. Send us the builder's quote with the drawings and planning consent. We tell you whether there is anything to pursue, and where a job is correctly 20% we say so. Fees are fixed and agreed before we start.
Questions
Straight answers.
We are turning four flats back into one house. Is that really 5%?
It can be. A conversion qualifies where the building contains a different number of single household dwellings after the work than before, and at least one. Fewer counts as well as more. Whether your project meets the conditions is what the analysis establishes.
We are refurbishing a villa that is already four flats and will stay four flats. What rate applies?
Normally 20%. If the number of dwellings does not change, the conversion rule does not apply. The 5% rate could only come in another way, for example if the flats have not been lived in for the two years before the work starts.
Does being in a conservation area reduce the VAT?
No. A conservation area affects what you are allowed to build. The VAT legislation gives no relief for a building because of where it stands, and none for listing by itself.
Do you have an office in Tunbridge Wells?
We work with clients in Tunbridge Wells by email and phone, as we do across Kent and nationally. Everything we need is in your documents.
Next step
Send us the quote. We’ll tell you whether there’s anything to save.
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%