VAT on flat maintenance trust services

In Places for People Homes Ltd v HMRC [2025] TC09695, the First Tier Tribunal (FTT) found that supplies of premises maintenance services made by flat maintenance trust companies were not exempt supplies of land.

VAT legislation exempts supplies of land as VAT. Maintenance services are standard rated at 20%. In some cases, when maintenance services are supplied ancillary to land, the services can also be VAT-exempt. Places for People Homes Ltd argued that flat maintenance service fees paid to maintenance trusts were ancillary to the supply of the land lease for their flat. This was an unusual argument because the supply of land was being made by lessors who were separate entities, unrelated to the flat maintenance trusts.

The FTT found that:

• The maintenance trusts’ supply of maintenance services was made to the lessors and not to the lessees.
• Supplies by the trusts did not form a part of a single supply of land by the lessor to the lessees.
• The trusts’ supplies were not ancillary to the lessors’ supply of land and could not take on the character of an exempt supply of land.

If you have any questions regarding the above article, please contact Tom Young on 023 8046 1254 or email Tom Young.