Club conversion

My property investor client recently purchased an empty building which was previously used as a members’ social club. The property had been empty for about 12 months.

The building included within it one flat which was used as the residential accommodation of the club steward and his wife. The building cost my client £200 000. He intends to spend £500 000 stripping the interior back to the brickwork and converting it into six residential self-contained flats.

I am aware that it is not possible to claim capital allowance on fixtures and fittings used within residential accommodation.

However allowances can be claimed on integral features for example those in the common areas such as mains wiring and emergency lighting. As far as I am aware the pooling requirement was not met when my client bought the building.

Given that the entire building will be taken back to a...