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Aspects of Land Spring / Summer 2019
HOUSING
8
Affordable housing
for rural areas
Since 2001, there has been a 15.8% drop
in home ownership in rural areas. The
house price to income ratio is far greater
in the countryside – where earnings are
generally lower – than it is in many urban
areas. As local families are priced out of
the local area, it is leading to the erosion
of village life, the CLA claims.
The CLA believes that local authorities
are not making good enough use of
Rural Exception Sites. These offer small
patches of land outside a village boundary
that would not normally be eligible for
planning permission specifically for the
development of affordable housing. The
developer pays less than market value
for the land on the basis that the land is
used to build affordable homes and the
landowner is happy to receive this lower
value because it is not land that could be
sold for development otherwise.
“Rural Exception Sites [are] the main
way to build affordable housing in smaller
villages,” says Andrew Shirley, CLA Chief
Surveyor. “Last year, we saw a fall of homes
provided on Rural Exception Sites, with
interesting variations between authorities.
How can Cornwall deliver 321 homes and
nearby mid-Devon build not one?” he asks.
n To investigate Rural Exception Sites on
your land, contact Patrick Moseley, London,
020 7409 9491,
Minimum energy
standards update
Since April last year, if a new tenancy
agreement was made or renewed
for a privately rented property, that
property had to meet minimum
energy efficiency standards (MEES)
of having an Energy Performance
Certificate (EPC) rating of E or above.
From April 2020, MEES is being
rolled out to cover all privately rented
property. It will no longer depend
on whether there is a new tenancy
agreement being made or
not, just on whether it is a rented
domestic property.
MEES is part of Government
measures to increase the energy
efficiencies of the UK’s housing stock,
which is responsible for 15% of the
nation’s carbon emissions.
Measures such as double glazing
and increasing wall and loft insulation
will improve a property’s EPC rating,
as well as reducing bills for the tenant.
However, there are cases when
landlords have already carried out all
cost-effective measures and the rating
is still not at E. When this is the case,
or if the necessary energy efficiency
improvements would reduce the
value of the property by more than
5%, then the landlord can apply for an
exemption that lasts for five years.
Additionally if a landlord has
tried to carry out improvements but
consent from third parties, such as
lenders or tenants, was denied or
came with unreasonable conditions
attached, then an exemption might
be possible.
“The best advice for landlords with
ratings below an E is to review their
most recent EPC now to ascertain
what improvements need to be made
and then complete any works within
the next year,” advises Christopher
Jowett of Savills Estate Management.
“Over time, the MEES is likely to
rise above the minimum E rating,
so landlords should consider
improving more than just the bare
essentials,” he advises.
n To find out more about MEES and your
rental properties, contact Christopher
Jowett, Salisbury, 01722 426 870,
ARE YOUR ACCOUNTS
DIGITAL ENOUGH?
This April, the first phase of the
Government’s Making Tax Digital
(MTD) scheme came into play.
All VAT-registered businesses
(with a few exceptions) now
have to keep digital records of
their VAT and send their VAT
returns to HMRC using MTD-
compatible software. This is the
start of HMRC gaining greater
access to accounting records.
“In this first stage, the VAT
submission only covers the
current nine boxes of the VAT
return, but it is a short step
to asking for the underlying
transactions and then moving
on to the interrogation of
accounts,” says Lindy Harker
of Savills Client Accounting. So
what are the future implications?
“Keeping accurate records will
be of paramount importance,”
says Lindy. “VAT inspections
have been infrequent and bad
habits might have crept in.”
Although specific VAT rules
can be complicated, the overall
concept is straightforward: if
you sell something on which you
charge and pay VAT, then you
can recover VAT on expenses
relating to those sales.
“What this means, is that
although the VAT rate might
be zero for some goods – such
as milk or food-related crops –
farmers can still recover VAT paid
on expenditure for those goods
(e.g farm inputs). However, they
cannot recover VAT on Exempt
or Outside Scope supplies, which
include residential let property
and private items.”
HMRC plans to roll out digital
accounting for all taxes, with
corporation tax likely to be
brought into MTD in 2020.
“If your accounting house is
in order, keep it that way. If it is
not, then now would be a good
time to tidy up,” advises Lindy.
nFor more info, contact Lindy
Harker, Wimborne, 01202 856 891,
LEGISLATION
Insulation improves your energy rating
TAX
100 YEARS OF FORESTRY
The Forestry Commission (now
Forestry England) is celebrating 100
years in 2019. It was set up in 1919 to
address the severe timber shortages
following World War I. Forestry England
now looks after 250,000 hectares
of forested land. The centenary will
be marked with all sorts of events
from runs to art installations and
commemorative Royal Mail stamps.
DEVELOPMENTS FOR NATURE
The Government consultation into a legal
requirement for planning developments
to include a net gain for nature closed
in February. The proposals would mean
that developers don’t just compensate
for any upheaval they cause to the
natural world, but actively add to and
improve biodiversity. The consultation
asked for views on areas such as how to
standardise the approach and how to
monitor it. Results are being processed.