Buying commercial property? Sort the capital allowances before you sign

The best time to deal with capital allowances on a commercial property is before you have bought it. The worst time is after completion, when the paperwork is signed and your options have narrowed. If you are in the middle of a purchase, this is the one to read now rather than later.

Why timing matters

When property changes hands, the treatment of the fixtures inside it, and therefore your ability to claim relief on them, can be fixed by what is agreed at completion. A section 198 election signed at a low value, or the question simply being ignored, can quietly limit or destroy a claim you would otherwise have been able to make. Once it is done, it is very hard to undo.

What to raise before you sign

• Ask whether the seller has claimed capital allowances on the fixtures, and what value any election will record.
• Make sure your solicitor includes proper capital allowances wording in the contract, rather than treating it as an afterthought.
• Get the question looked at by someone who understands the relief, not only by the conveyancer handling the sale.

Where we fit

We can review the position before you complete, so the claim is protected rather than lost. It is far easier to get this right at the point of purchase than to try to rescue it afterwards. If you are buying, talk to us before you sign, not after.

And if you already own the property and none of this was dealt with at the time, it is still worth a look. The door is not always closed. But on a live purchase, now is the moment.