Software & Property

I’m Clive — a qualified Chartered Accountant and hands-on property investor with over 30 years’ experience helping people make smarter financial decisions and build long-term wealth.

My day-to-day work is split between:

Investing in high-yield HMO properties across the North West and Yorkshire

Advising landlords, builders, and small businesses on tax, accounting and compliance

And I love both.

Because I believe smart property investing and smart tax planning go hand-in-hand — and most people don’t get either right.

Hello... I'm Clive Cass

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Accounting Software

There are 4 ways to maintain your accounting records:

Manual (paper and pen);

Excel which is a spreadsheet that replicates manual records;

Integrated Accounting software such as Quickbooks, Xero, FreeAgent & SAGE.

Integrated Systems

Integrated accounting systems are the way to go when your accountancy and tax requirements reach a certain level of complexity. This will often be the case if you act as a limited company and need a Balance sheet or where you are VAT registered. I am happy to advise what software you will need now and when it is time for you to move on to something else.

Microsoft Excel

Excel is MTD compliant however will not easily cope with more complex issues such as VAT, large portfolios and limited companies where a balance sheet is required. If this is all you can manage it is however a reasonable way (and better than manual records) to provide the information to your book keeper to transfer, if necessary, to accountaing software. I can of course set you up on a suitable Excel accounting system, such as my free one designed for small businesses.

These systems are ideal for landlords of Buy to Lets who want to either manage them rather than get an estate agent to do so or who want to at least be actively involved in some aspects of the management.

The accounting systems are excellent but are limited in that they generally cannot handle VAT or produce a balance sheet which is a requirement for limited companies.

The real beauty of these systems is that they are really simple to use and provide a lot of management information from simple reminders about deadlines for insurance or safety checks to details of tenancies and even great financial information such as rental yields, equity and remortages.

Property Management & Accountancy Systems

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Elite Broker Blogs

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Do you need a 5% VAT certificate for construction work?

Tax| Accounting

June 26, 2026•2 min read

Do you need a 5% VAT certificate for construction work?

In the UK, the standard rate of VAT for most building services is 20%. However, a reduced 5% VAT rate can be charged for certain types of construction work, including:

●renovating a residential property that has been empty for more than 2 years.

●increasing the number of dwellings, such as converting a house into flats.

●converting a commercial building into a residential property.

●converting a house into an HMO (house in multiple occupation).

How to apply 5% VAT

It is up to the builder/contractor to determine whether (and on what services) the 5% VAT rate can be applied. To apply the reduced 5% VAT rate to construction services, the supplier must first get proof that they have applied the rate correctly, based on the criteria listed above.

For example, council tax records can be used as proof that a residential property has been empty for more than 2 years. For conversions to residential property or increasing the number of dwellings, a copy of the planning permission or architect’s plans can be used as proof.

Do I need a 5% VAT certificate?

In the majority of cases, you do not need to obtain a certificate. As long as you have the required proof to support your claim, HMRC will be satisfied.

However, a 5% rate certificate is required when renovating or converting a “relevant residential building”. This includes:

●an institution or home that provides residential accommodation for children.

●an institution or home that provides accommodation with personal care for persons in need of personal care.

●a hospice.

●residential accommodation for students.

●residential accommodation for members of any of the armed forces.

●a monastery, nunnery or similar establishment.

●an institution which is the sole or main residence of at least 90 per cent of its residents and will not be used as a hospital, prison or similar institution or a hotel, inn or similar establishment.

●a building that will be used solely for a relevant charitable purpose.

If your construction business undertakes works on one of these types of properties, you must obtain a certificate to apply the 5% rate.

How to obtain a 5% VAT rate certificate

For zero-rated supplies, the property owner can issue a certificate. However, for the 5% rate certificate, the supplier completes the certificate once they have determined that the supply is eligible (and has proof of eligibility).

The supplier will need to download and complete the “Zero-rated and reduced-rated building work certificate” from the “VAT Notice 708” page on gov.uk.

taxVATAccounting for Landlords

Clive Cass

Clive Cass is a Chartered Accountant & Property Investor who shares his insights into the world of Property Investing. Read along with him as he breaks-down all the facts, information and legislation into easy to follow blog posts.

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