nigelbirkett

Re VAT EXEMPTION Our small but registered charity is about to renovate and alter a grade 2 residential property acquired 4 years ago having secured the required permissions and raised the necessary funding. The charity is not registered for VAT. We understand: 1. the renovation and alteration of a residential property which has not been lived in for more than 10 years before work on it starts may be zero rated for VAT 2. the development of part of such a property exclusively for charitable purposes may also be subject to a reduced rate of VAT 3. the cost and provision of installing disabled facilities is exempt from VAT. The first floor is a one-bed flat declared uninhabitable in 1993 and not lived in nor worked on since then, apart from re-roofing some three years ago, but is now to be completely renovated and altered to become a usable flat. Wholly self-contained, it is accessible directly from a public footpath via its own staircase to its own ground floor front door. The ground floor area has been used wholly as a garage and store for the charity but is now to be developed as a space exclusively for charitable work and will include a toilet suitable for the disabled. Please confirm the VAT position and any requirement for qualifying certificates in respect of the renovation and alteration work to the flat and to the ground floor area. Please also advise whether the VAT charged at 20% by the contractor on the cost of the re-roofing 3 years ago may be reclaimed. Nigel