HEAT PUMPS
ECO-FRIENDLY HOMES EMBRACE RENEWABLES
boilingpoint O
T
he Woodland development, in the picturesque village of Carrbridge – a community in the Cairngorms National Park in Scotland – is to benefit from renewable Ecodan heat pumps.
Tulloch Homes, which focuses in and around the Inverness area but builds throughout Scotland has a 95-year history of delivering homes that complement the communities they are built in and respect the environment. All of the 24 homes in Phase One of the development have been designed to complement their natural surroundings, with attractive external timber features and environmentally friendly features, including Ecodan air source heat pumps. The properties are built to Tulloch Homes’ premier specification – and come with a 10-year NHBC warranty.
“We regularly look at what customers are asking for and in addition to homebuyers gravitating more towards edge of town or rural locations, we have seen growing interest in renewable technologies,” explained Kieran Graham, Tulloch Homes commercial director.
Bordered by native Caledonian pine forest – and set against a breath- taking mountain backdrop – the development of two and three bedroom homes is nestled in one of the Highlands’ most vibrant villages. The mix of both social and private properties on this site all benefit from the QUHZ Ecodan air source heat pump, which delivers all the heating and hot water the properties need.
The QUHZ Ecodan is designed with new-build standards of insulations and lower heating loads in mind. The system uses CO2 as a refrigerant, which allows the heat pump to deliver water at 70°C to a packaged 200 litre thermal store, so that families receive hot water whenever they need it. “The key objectives for the renewable heating system was that the units had to be compact, quiet and energy efficient,” added Gordon Macallister from Highland Plumbing & Heating, which installed the renewable heating systems. “Low Maintenance and reliability are every bit as important from both the customer and the installer perspective and with running costs that are comparable with natural gas but without the emissions, that can only be a good thing in helping prevent climate change.”
All of the homes in Phase One have now been snapped up and Tulloch Homes are anticipating similar interest once Phase Two is completed.
n 1 March, Reverse Charge VAT will finally come into force. So, with that said, it’s important to ensure you have the right information you need to make the necessary changes as well as minimise the impact on your business. John Thompson, chief executive of the Association of Plumbing & Heating Contractors (APHC) discusses. Why is this change happening? The new legislation has been designed to combat tax-related fraud in the sector. HMRC has been subject to non-payment of VAT for many years, and this form of tax avoidance is increasing. Where this happens, suppliers charge their customers VAT but then do not pay this VAT to HMRC. So what is Reverse Charge VAT? Reverse Charge VAT is a change to the way VAT is collected and affects both suppliers and customers who are both VAT and registered under the Construction Industry Scheme (CIS). Under this new scheme, the supplier will no longer charge VAT to their customer on its standard rate or reduced rate specified supplies. Instead, a customer who commissions building and construction services will in future pay the VAT element of their invoice directly to the HMRC rather than their supplier. This places the emphasis for accounting for and paying VAT due to the HMRC firmly at the customer’s door. As such, businesses will have to account for the reverse charge VAT on their own VAT return, and will be able to recover that VAT on the same VAT return, subject to the normal VAT recovery rules. What type of services are classed as specified services? The construction services covered by the reverse charge are those falling within the definition of ‘construction operations’ in CIS. This wide definition includes the construction, alteration, repair, extension, demolition or dismantling of buildings or structures and infrastructure such as roads, railways and waterways. It also includes painting and decorating. If the job involves the supply of a mix of specified and other construction services, it will be classed as a single supply of “specified services” and the reverse charge will apply. How will this affect my business? The flow of VAT payments into a business can be treated as a boost to cashflow at least until the next VAT return when payment of VAT is made. This change in how VAT is paid, will mean that many construction businesses will no longer be able to rely on VAT money for cashflow. Although it is recognised that VAT does not essentially belong to the business, it has become the norm for businesses to use it to prop up cashflow. With this change, businesses need to start preparing now for this reduction in cashflow and begin to plan as to how to replace it. What happens next? Typically, as a sub-contractor, you should be advised by your main contractor/client on how the VAT should be dealt with relating to their project. However, in situations where you use the services of a sub- contractor business under CIS yourselves, then the guidance states that you’re required to notify the sub-contractors who you use on how to apply the VAT changes relating to the works.
AT APHC, we’ve developed a template letter for members to use when outlining the above to sub-contractors – simply join us and become a member in order to gain access to this resource. For information on this development, take a look at the official government page
https://bit.ly/2OH73AP You can also watch a recorded webinar about the VAT reverse charge here
https://bit.ly/3jSsCtr
www.heatingandventilating.net
March 2021
!"
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36
