Readers’ forum: Covid concerns

I act for a property developer client who purchased a plot of land last year with a view to building 24 apartments. Her intention was to sell the apartments which would have all qualified as dwellings; in other words they would have been sold with a lease exceeding 21 years.

The sales would have been zero rated for VAT so my client claimed input tax on the legal fees for buying the land (£3 000) and also on a detailed architect and surveyor report about the sizes and layouts of the apartments (£8 000).

However as a result of the coronavirus lockdown my client no longer feels confident about the venture and has received a reasonable offer to sell the land instead to a housing association which will build the apartments. No building...