After a long period of uncertainty, HMRC have finally issued their decision as to whether or not valued added tax (“VAT”) is chargeable on dilapidations payments.

Historically, dilapidations payable by a tenant at the end of a lease had not been subject to VAT.  The payment was to compensate the landlord for having its premises returned in disrepair, contrary to the tenant’s promise to keep them in repair.  Truly compensatory payments have historically been treated as not subject to VAT as it was considered they were not payments for a supply of goods or services.Continue Reading As you were! HMRC decides no VAT payable on dilapidations payments after all

Further to our update on the Government’s residential leasehold reforms, the Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Bill was introduced into the House of Lords on 12 May 2021. The bill seeks to fulfil one of the proposals set out in the Law Commission’s enfranchisement report and follows on from the Government’s press release made earlier this year, to tackle the inconsistency and ambiguity of ground rents for future residential leaseholders.
Continue Reading Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Bill published

Earlier this year, the UK Government reconfirmed its intention to bring forward residential leasehold reforms following the Law Commission’s recommendations last year. The proposed changes are expected to benefit up to 4.5 million leaseholders.

The news will no doubt be welcomed by leasehold homeowners who have been campaigning for changes to what they perceive to be unfair ground rent laws. However, the impact on developers, house builders and landlords, is less clear, but it is likely to affect the legal structuring of both the ownership and the ongoing management of new residential developments.

In this article, we consider what the proposed reforms are, when they are expected to come into effect and some of the potential implications on developer landlords or investors.Continue Reading Ground Rent Reform – what’s happening and when?

The spread of COVID-19 has forced the mass closure of workspace and the implementation of work-from-home policies in the majority of industries.

As the UK contemplates easing lockdown measures, businesses are having to consider what the world of work will look like in the “new normal”. But what does that “new normal” look like and