Commercial Property Update May 2009
EPC’s: The unwanted addition (but here are a few things you should know)As we should all know Energy Performance Certificates were required on the construction, sale or letting of the majority of commercial buildings with effect from 1st October. By way of reminder:- schemes, lease renewals or extensions and the sale of shares in a company that owns property; To find out more click here |
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There is now a requirement to have your air-conditioning inspected:
The inspection must be by an accredited energy assessor and a written report is required. On the up side, once you have an EPC it will generally be valid for the next ten years. |
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Cash for your clean up With Greenfield sites seemingly being the unachievable acquisition for developers, here’s an often overlooked bonus for those of you with contaminated land. Land remediation tax allows companies to claim a corporation tax deduction of 150% (no that’s not a typo) on qualifying expenditure incurred in decontaminating land. There are however a few points to be aware of: To find out more click here |
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SDLT, the teenager to your transactionYes, much like your teenage child, when you finally think that you’ve given them enough money, they come back for more. Normally when calculating your Stamp Duty Land Tax contribution, the first five years rent are only taken into account. However, from December 2008 onwards after the five years are up, HMRC could be coming back for more. Generally rent increases outside the five year period are ignored, however, any increases thereafter which are deemed ‘abnormal’ i.e. much higher than the previous five years rent, will be considered by HMRC as a grant of a new lease and therefore liable to SDLT. Accordingly, beware any increase of more than 20% for each complete year since the rent was last fixed, as these will likely be considered abnormal. |
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