Clare_74 Porter

Hello We have begun a full refurb of our property, we do not qualify from any other VAT relief but asked our contractor about getting zero vat relief on the installation and supply of the two air source heat pumps we are putting in and also the external wall insulation to allow for this. We need new pipework, underfloor heating throughout, 2 heat pumps, hot water cylinder, thermostats etc. We are also using the same contractor to replace the roof, do internal changes to the property and a small rear extension. The contractor has told us they won't do zero vat on the energy efficiency parts of the build - heat pump installation inc UFH, new pipework etc nor the external wall insulation because it's part of a single supply - the full house refurb - but I think there are clearly different elements to the job they are doing and it's mixed. I have looked the HMRC guidance and find it very confusing. It's not clear to me and the contractor/builder says it's not really clear to them so they don't want to take the risk of chargiing zero vat and then getting penalized by HMRC. We are doing this work to increase our energy efficiency primarily and make an old house work much better, cleaner (replacing old boiler) so I don't know why it's so complicated to get zero vat on this when it's clearly done to increase energy efficiency. Any advise please? Thanks Clare