History
1764.A scheme of capital allowances was introduced in FA 1982 for expenditure on the construction of properties for letting on assured tenancies under the Housing Act 1980. Under that Act bodies approved by the Secretary of State could let property at freely-negotiated rents outside the provisions of the Rent Acts provided that certain conditions were met. The intention of the new allowance was to encourage the construction of new properties for letting to individuals by private bodies and to stimulate the construction industry. The legislation was based broadly on that for industrial buildings allowances with initial allowances at 75% and writing-down allowances at 4%. Initial allowances were withdrawn by FA 1984 over a period ending on 31 March 1986.
1765.Assured tenancies were introduced in the Housing Act 1980 for approved bodies. There was nothing to prevent an unincorporated body of persons, such as a partnership, from applying and approval was not refused merely on the grounds of non-corporate status. But the capital allowances were intended to be available only to companies so the definition of “qualifying dwelling-house” was amended with effect from 5 May 1983 to exclude landlords other than companies.
1766.The allowances as introduced were limited to qualifying expenditure incurred after 9 March 1982 and before 1 April 1987. FA 1987 extended this to expenditure incurred before 1 April 1992.
1767.The Housing Act 1988 introduced a new scheme of assured tenancies under which landlords no longer needed approval. This meant that changes were needed as approval of landlords was a feature of the system of assured tenancy allowances. FA 1988 therefore contained provisions to:
prevent balancing charges arising purely as a result of changes made by the Housing Act 1988; and
stop most expenditure after 14 March 1988 qualifying for relief.