VAT on eco building stuff

bozzy18

Hello we are planning an extension and in addition install a garden office. We plan to make it as eco friendly as possible such as installing solar panels to supply electricity to the office and heat water. We are also planning for eco roof which will require roof strengthening to sustain the weight of soil, plants etc. My question is whether these works will attract a 20% VAT rate or 5%? Grateful for comments. 
Your helpful information would be appreciated.
Thanks.
Boz

Doozergirl

If the contract for the solar panels is supply and fit, then 5% VAT applies.   Batteries aren't covered.  Buying the panels separately for fitting yourself or by others attracts full VAT at 20%.   

Good luck getting the solar panels to save you any kind of money.   Sadly, they are an expensive toy for homeowners at the moment.  

A sedum roof attracts at the normal rate of 20%.  

onomatopoeia99

Doozergirl said:

If the contract for the solar panels is supply and fit, then 5% VAT applies.   Batteries aren't covered.  Buying the panels separately for fitting yourself or by others attracts full VAT at 20%.   

Good luck getting the solar panels to save you any kind of money.   Sadly, they are an expensive toy for homeowners at the moment.  

Payback on mine based on two years' data is 8 years for the panels alone, or 13 years for the panels + powerwall.  I have quite a high base load of about 10kWh/day as I run a computer sever 24/7 as well as the normal always-on stuff like the fridgefreezer, satellite box etc. so it makes more sense for me that for a lot of people.

I don't know what it is about where I live, but we average a power cut a month, sometimes for a computer rebooting few seconds, sometimes for 15 minutes, and I really like having the battery backup.

bozzy18

Doozergirl said: A sedum roof attracts at the normal rate of 20%.  

Can I ask where you get this information from?  I was just wondering why eco garden roof would not attract a 5% VAT rate when its environmental friendly and also better insulation etc.

ComicGeek

onomatopoeia99 said:

Doozergirl said:

If the contract for the solar panels is supply and fit, then 5% VAT applies.   Batteries aren't covered.  Buying the panels separately for fitting yourself or by others attracts full VAT at 20%.   

Good luck getting the solar panels to save you any kind of money.   Sadly, they are an expensive toy for homeowners at the moment.  

Payback on mine based on two years' data is 8 years for the panels alone, or 13 years for the panels + powerwall.  I have quite a high base load of about 10kWh/day as I run a computer sever 24/7 as well as the normal always-on stuff like the fridgefreezer, satellite box etc. so it makes more sense for me that for a lot of people.

I don't know what it is about where I live, but we average a power cut a month, sometimes for a computer rebooting few seconds, sometimes for 15 minutes, and I really like having the battery backup.

But assuming that you got it installed before the cut off date at the end of March 2019, you would have been eligible for the feed-in tariffs - the OP wouldn't have that additional payment now, so a completely different payback calculation. These days you would be lucky to get a payback during the 20-25 year life of the system. Our PV system was installed back in the good old tariff days of 2011, and had a payback of just under 4 years - the feed-in tariff still continues to offset our entire annual energy and water costs, and will do for some years to come.

I have the same home server set up as you, and just bought a small UPS about 12 years ago for about £100 - I can run our server, printer and a couple of computers off this for a few hours every time there's a power cut.

Doozergirl

bozzy18 said:

Doozergirl said: A sedum roof attracts at the normal rate of 20%.  

Can I ask where you get this information from?  I was just wondering why eco garden roof would not attract a 5% VAT rate when its environmental friendly and also better insulation etc.

Because the raw materials attract full VAT, the same as any other roofing materials. 

The supply and fit of 'a roof' is the supply and fit of 'a roof', regardless of the thickness of insulation. 

Have you found any HMRC guidance that suggests that a sedum roof attracts a reduced rate?