West Wales Property Finders

  • Who We Are
  • About Us
    • What We Do
    • Why Use Us
      • Testimonials
    • Why West Wales
    • Fees
  • News
    • Property
      • Carmarthen
      • Ceredigion
      • Gower
      • Pembrokeshire
      • Property Prices
      • Holiday Homes
      • Holiday Lets
    • Press Coverage
  • Contact Form

Call for Chancellor to Cut VAT on Property Renovations

March 3, 2017 by Carol Peett

Historic Pembrokeshire Long House

In his Spring Budget the chancellor should address the inequality in VAT between new builds, which are zero rated, and renovations, which incur tax at 20%.

Carol Peett, managing director of West Wales Property Finders, suggests a much fairer solution would be to bring renovations in line with the 5% VAT rate that is chargeable on renovating a dwelling that has been empty for at least two years.

She says that the current housing shortage could be helped by encouraging people to extend their living space. Adding an extension or converting an attic can turn a house suitable for a couple into one for a family.

This would also assist those caught up in the static property market caused, in part, by the reforms to stamp duty land tax by the previous Chancellor, George Osborne, which has deterred the older generation from downsizing and thus releasing family houses onto the market.

If couples are unable to move, and wish to extend their property to cater for a growing family, they are faced with a 20% VAT bill on any building works making it too expensive for many to contemplate.

There is also a knock on benefit in relation to social care. Many families are keen to look after their elderly relatives, but are unable to afford the VAT trap created when they want to build a granny annex.

Encouraging more people to renovate or extend would provide additional work for builders and trades such as electricians and plumbers. Also, it would be less attractive to do ‘cash in hand’ work to avoid the VAT.

A heritage benefit of this VAT reduction would be that many beautiful character properties, which at present are being levelled and rebuilt from scratch rather than renovated in order to avoid the prohibitive VAT charges, would be preserved.

Carol Peett said: “We have personal experience of the gulf between VAT on a new build and on a renovation. When we inherited our beautiful traditional Pembrokeshire long house from my parents it was in dire need of a complete overhaul.

“However, we were advised that it would be far cheaper to knock the house down and start again, which would have been complete sacrilege for such a beautiful building.

“We bit the bullet and undertook a huge renovation programme incurring 20% VAT but many in our position would make the more rational decision and properties such as ours would be lost to future generations.”

Mortgage Finance Gazette 3rd March 2017

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Google

Filed Under: Press Coverage, Property NewsTagged With: Budget, Buyers' Agent, Home Finder Pembrokeshire, Home Finder Wales, Homesearch, Homesearch Carmarthenshire, Homesearch Ceredigion, Homesearch Pembrokeshire, Property Expert Wales, Property Expert West Wales, Property Finder Carmarthenshire, Property Finder Ceredigion, Property Finder Gower, Property Finder Pembrokeshire, Property Finder Wales, Property Finders West Wales, Property Pembrokeshire, Property Search Carmarthenshire, Property Search Ceredigion, Property Search Gower, Property Search Pembrokeshire, Property West Wales, Renovations, VAT

Our Committment

We are entirely independent and represent only the interests of property buyers. This means that at all times we are focused solely on the needs of our clients.
01834 862816

Newsletter

Tags

Buyers' Agent Holiday Homes Home Finder Pembrokeshire Home Finder Wales Homesearch Homesearch Carmarthenshire Homesearch Ceredigion Homesearch Pembrokeshire Pembrokeshire Property Expert Wales Property Expert West Wales Property Finder Property Finder Carmarthenshire Property Finder Ceredigion Property Finder Gower Property Finder Pembrokeshire Property Finders West Wales Property Finder Wales Property Finder West Wales Property Pembrokeshire Property Search Carmarthenshire Property Search Ceredigion Property Search Gower Property Search Pembrokeshire Property West Wales

About Us

West Wales Property Finders can find your dream home and offer a range of services to save you both time and money. About Our Fees.

Our Location

Caermaenau Fawr
Clynderwen
Pembrokeshire
SA66 7HB

  • 01834 862816 / 077966 15332
  • carol@westwalespropertyfinders.co.uk

Press Coverage

For many families, luxury now includes a grand dining room, wine cellar, … [Read More]

All Press Coverage Articles

Connect With Us

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Legal

Privacy Policy

© Copyright 2014-2022 West Wales Property Finders · All Rights Reserved · Website Development

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Accept Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT