In his statement to the House of Commons, the Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced the following measures which will have a direct impact on the UK property and construction sectors:
FULL EXPENSING
Having been introduced from 1st April 2023, the Chancellor announced today that Full Expensing will be extended to cover assets used for leasing. For the property sector this should remove an anomaly whereby fixtures which are leased with buildings would qualify for Full Expensing but loose assets, such as furniture, would not. The devil is of course always in the detail and this extension will only be introduced “when fiscal conditions allow”.
As a reminder, Full Expensing applies to corporation tax payers and gives a 100% first year allowance for expenditure incurred on Main Rate plant & machinery and a 50% first year allowance on Special Rate plant & machinery. Those hoping that this positive change to the capital allowances regime might also be extended to cover unincorporated businesses will unfortunately have to wait for another Budget.
Having lived with the Full Expensing regime for almost 12 months, one concern we have however, is the disconnect between the strict application of the legislation and the reality of when expenditure is incurred on professional fees associated with the provision of plant & machinery. For any large project, design and other fees which will qualify for allowances as part of the expenditure on plant & machinery, are likely to be incurred in periods prior to the actual plant & machinery being acquired. A strict application of the legislation would therefore potentially see Full Expensing not being available on these early fees, which is something which was surely not intended when these new first year allowances were introduced. This is something that we have recently raised with HMRC and look forward to seeing further guidance from them on this.
FURNISHED HOLIDAY LETTINGS
From 6th April 2025 the beneficial tax position currently granted to Furnished Holiday Lettings (FHL) will be removed with a view to taxing long term and short term residential lets in the same way. This will primarily mean stopping the availability of capital allowances being claimed in relation to residential property used for short term lets. The intention is to support people to live in their local area and is expected to raise £600m over a five-year period.
This change has been implemented at the same time as reducing the higher rate of Capital Gains Tax on residential properties (28% to 24%) to encourage more residential disposals, and abolishing Multiple Dwellings Relief for SDLT which has been subject to abuse.
INVESTMENT ZONES
Following the launch of refocused Investment Zones in the 2023 Spring Budget, and the extension in the 2023 Autumn Budget of the duration from five years to ten years, the Government today announced details of how Investment Zones in Greater Manchester, Liverpool City Region, Northeast of England, South Yorkshire and West Midlands will use the funding envelope available.
The general benefits provided in the Zones and Freeports include:
- SDLT relief
- Business Rate Relief
- Enhanced Capital Allowances – 100% first year allowance on plant & machinery
- Enhanced Structures and Buildings Allowance – 10% p.a. instead of the standard 3% p.a.
- Employer NI Contribution Relief
LANDFILL TAX
As announced in the Autumn Statement 2023 the rates of Landfill Tax will rise again in line with RPI from 1st April 2024 to :
- Standard Rate : £103.70/tonne
- Lower Rate : £3.30/tonne
In a significant change, however, the rates from 1st April 2025 will increase sharply to:
- Standard Rate : £126.15/tonne (+22%)
- Lower Rate : £4.05/tonne (+23%)
The proposed increase from 2025 is said to “better reflect actual RPI” and ensure that the tax continues to incentivise investment in more sustainable waste management infrastructure.
AGGREGATES LEVY
After many years of being frozen at £2.00/tonne, the rate will increase from 1st April 2024 to £2.03/tonne.
VAT THRESHOLD
A welcome measure for smaller businesses and many tradespeople is the increase in the VAT registration threshold to £90,000. The threshold had been kept at £85,000 for several years and was expected to be frozen at that level until 31st March 2026.
