Property Investors & Developers

Yesterday, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt presented his second Autumn Statement, but with a very different tone to the gloomy announcements made this time last year. The Chancellor announced initiatives with a massive focus on pushing growth in the economy. The main question you’ll all no doubt have is… “how does it affect me?”, let’s take a look…

With demand for rental property being at an all time high we explore considerations if you are thinking of getting into property investment and how to ensure you are compliant from the offset of your journey as a property investor.

Property updates for October 2023 including - Record numbers of landlords making next purchase via Ltd companies, rocketing rent predictions, Possible rent controls increasing rent in Scotland and Proposed planning permission required for second homes in Wales.

Raising finance to fund property development can be one of the most challenging parts of the project. This blog highlights specialist lenders, explores how they operate and how Friend & Grant can help with the journey.

Property updates for September 2023 including - VAT on rent to serviced accommodation supplies, UK house price update, Heat Pump Plans in Scotland and the Northern Ireland housing market.

Property updates for August 2023 including house price affordability, more on the renters reform bill, plans around holiday lets licencing in Wales and the potential housing emergency in Scotland.

We take a look at the ins and outs of VAT in the property & construction world with examples and tips to help you maximise your reclaims, steer clear or unexpected bills and make your property ventures a breeze.

The Renters Reform Bill  After several delays, The Renters Reform Bill was published on 17 May 2023. A White Paper, published in June 2022, set out proposals to be legislated in the bill, which will change the way in which the relationship between landlords and tenants will work. The bill only applies in England. Key...

Protection insurance is key to protecting your future. Are you aware of the options available to you and are you certain there are no loopholes of gaps in your cover? We explore the differences between Life Cover, Critical illness cover and income protection and the benefits of seeking guidance from an independent financial advisor can help you to ensure you have sufficient cover.

As a property investor, ensuring you have your property tax affairs structured in the most tax efficient way is vital. Ill-thought-out structuring and negligent planning can be very costly down the line. We recognise that everyone has unique situations and goals when it comes to their property affairs, so we’ve decided to take a 360 all-inclusive approach to tax planning to help you realise your goals.

If your business falls within the realm of property consultancy, property/land sourcing, property finding, estate agency, or similar activities, registration for Anti-money laundering supervision will be necessary, we explore the responsibilities and consequences for non compliance.

The latest updates for landlords and property investors including regulation for short-term lets, risks around lead generation services, calls for a renters charter and retiring landlords fuelling the rental property crisis.

Registering for VAT isn’t always a black & white option, here we go through scenarios where VAT registration may or may not be beneficial to your business.

Finding any sort of contamination on your property can easily burn a hole in your pocket, but this valuable tax relief may help you recover some of your money!

Property investors are often keen to understand the options for structuring their portfolio. Is a limited company the best option? We look at some of the advantages of using a limited company or a special purpose vehicle for your investment portfolio.

Sometimes the rules regarding VAT are not quite what you expect! Here we go into detail on 5 VAT rules that you may not have known existed.

Keep reading to find out what Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s “Back to Work” Budget means for you. Is 2023 a year of opportunity?

Property investors often fail to realise that they have a duty to register under CIS if they carry out certain activities. Failure to register could be costly as it is likely to result in significant penalties being levied for non-compliance.

What do you do if your subcontractor or professional disagrees with your treatment of their income under CIS? You have basically three actions you can take.

If you carry out any sort of building works on a property and engage labour you have to be wary of the rules under the construction industry scheme where tax has to be potentially stopped on the labour element of the service provided. Professionals are often consider exempt from CIS- but is this right? The answer unsurprisingly is not always!

For many people building their perfect home is just a dream. However over recent years we are seeing more and more cases of individuals looking to do just that. To ensure that individuals enjoy the same VAT advantages as professional builders check out the DIY Housebuilders Scheme.

Residential rental income is an exempt supply for VAT purposes, and so as a rule VAT cannot be charged on this income or reclaimed on related expenses. However, if you’re in a situation where you’re a landlord, but also run a VAT registered business making taxable supplies as a self-employed individual, then there may be a way you can reclaim VAT on your rental expenses too through your VAT Returns.

Having run an accountancy practice for almost 30 years I have had the good fortune to meet literally thousands of business owners. Many have created great companies but many others have unfortunately failed. Reasons given for failure are numerous. Many are genuine such as Covid or an unforeseen bad debt resulting in severe cashflow problems. Most however are due to a basic misunderstanding of what is required to create a successful business.

Becoming a landlord, particularly if you are planning to manage the letting yourself, can be daunting. The legalities are complex, finding the right tenants is not easy, things do go wrong and it is easy to underestimate how much time you’ll need to spend on one property let alone a portfolio!

Owning your own property is part of the culture in the UK with over 65.1% of houses owned by the households in 2019. Surprisingly, whilst we are ahead of countries like Germany and France, most European countries have extremely high levels of ownership (Italy 72.3%, Greece 75.4%, Poland 84.2%). So why the disparity? In simple terms the reason is the property rental market. In 2020 the share of households occupied by private renters hit 18.7%, so around 4.44 million households were privately rented in England in 2020.

This is the first of a two part series of blogs on the topic of wealth creation. In this first blog I will be looking at how wealth is perceived in society and how you can measure your own wealth.

The long delayed VAT Domestic Reverse Charge for the Construction Industry was finally introduced on 1st March 2021.

If you're looking to make energy-efficient improvements, these grants may help!

As of the 1 July 2020 landlords of private rented accommodation are now required to have their electrics and wiring inspected and tested every 5 years by a qualified, competent professional. This is called an Electrical Installation Condition Report.

The construction industry scheme is designed to stop tax on invoices raised by the self employed or limited companies (called subcontractors) who provide labour within the construction industry to businesses which are also within the construction industry (called contractors).

Working in the property industry can be a minefield with all the various accounting regulations that need to be followed. This can be made easier with a good record keeping system that works for your business and keeps you compliant!

Recent events are putting considerable strain on businesses which rent leasehold premises so what options do you have? We believe that it is in the tenant and the landlord’s interest to work together to come up with a solution which in the long run will benefit both parties.

The impact of Covid19 could adversely affect both tenants and landlords. We examine what help the government is giving to both of these groups of individuals.

The Chancellor has set out a package of temporary, timely and targeted measures to support businesses through this period of disruption. Regrettably for most of the self-employed there is little help.

With effect from 6 April 2020, a new tax payment regime will be introduced for the disposal of residential property in the UK by individuals. Here’s what you need to know.

We're often asked whether to purchase a buy to let property personally or via a limited company. Read our detailed advice to help you understand the up-and down-sides of each option. Everyone’s circumstances are different; the pros and cons must be weighed up on a case by case basis.

HMRC really seem to have had it in for landlords in recent years. For some it will be worthwhile to restructure their affairs in order to minimise the impact of recent legislation changes.

We have recently taken on a number of new clients who have undeclared rental income. Often these individuals have received prompted letters from HM Revenue & Customs’ Let Property Campaign department. HMRC have access to all land registry documents and a sophisticated computer system that can identify taxpayers who own multiple properties.

From April 2017 HMRC began phasing in the ‘residence nil rate band’ which could mean large savings on inheritance tax bills for future generations. From 6 April 2020 it’s worth £70,000 per estate – so a whopping £140,000 of tax ready to be saved per couple. However, there are potential stumbling blocks as with most...

Many of the recent changes in the taxation of buy to let rental businesses do not apply to property businesses that qualify as furnished holiday lettings. In particular, the restriction on deductibility of finance costs that started to apply from 2016/17 does not apply to furnished holiday lettings. It may be worth considering investing in...