§ Sir John HannamTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans he has to put an upper limit on disabled facilities grants; what the limit will be; and if it will include value added tax and professional fees.
§ Sir George YoungI refer my hon. Friend to the reply that I gave my hon. Friend the Member for Stamford and Spalding (Mr. Davies) on 3 November 1993,Official Report, column 206. The £20,000 limit will apply to all mandatory renovation grants, including grants for disabled facilities, for which applications are submitted to local authorities on or after 14 January 1994.
The limit is inclusive of any VAT chargeable on works carried out and professional fees and other ancillary costs incurred by applicants in undertaking grant-aided works. However, works qualifying for mandatory disabled facilities grant are zero rated for VAT purposes.
There is no limit to the size of discretionary disabled facilities grants given by local authorities under part VIII of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989.