Buying in new real estate offers many advantages. In addition to a quality property that complies with the latest standards, particularly energy standards, you benefit from various guarantees: ten-year, two-year, perfect completion… Your purchase is secure! It is also important to know that new property has significant financial advantages, such as reduced notary fees or the possibility of benefiting from reduced VAT at 5.5%. The promoters (Spirit, Ogic, Bouygues…) do not hesitate to propose new projects with reduced VAT which are a real godsend for buyers.
The conditions of access to 5.5% VAT
Since 2014, it has been possible to benefit from a reduced VAT rate of 5.5% for new property purchases, instead of the usual 20%. This measure was introduced to boost real estate in certain sectors, but also to allow social home ownership, particularly for those on more moderate incomes.
To be able to benefit from it, you, as a natural person, must comply with a few conditions, i.e:
- The dwelling must be your main residence, and not a second home;
- The dwelling must also comply with the thermal regulation RT 2012 (which will be replaced at the end of 2020 by the RT 2020) ;
- Your resources (based on N-2) must not exceed the ceiling set by the tax authorities;
- The dwelling must be built in an ANRU (Agence Nationale Rénovation Urbaine) district, or within 300 metres of these districts, or in the City’s Priority Districts (QPV).
These neighbourhoods have been set up by the ANRU and the local authorities in order to be revitalized and become more attractive to buyers.
Other features of the 5.5% VAT
You should also be aware that you will have to keep your property for a minimum of 15 years following its acquisition in order to benefit from this reduced VAT. However, it is possible to resell your property before this deadline. But in this case, you will have to make a refund, based on two scenarios:
- If you resell within 5 years of purchase, you are obliged to refund the full difference between the reduced and normal VAT regime;
- If you resell between 5 and 15 years after the acquisition, then you will have to refund the difference in VAT between the reduced scheme and the normal scheme.
However, the reduced VAT scheme of 5.5%, designed to encourage home ownership by the middle classes, has many advantages. In addition to the fact that you will make a definite, and not negligible, saving, you will be able to optimize this financial advantage, by cumulating the VAT at 5.5% with another device, the Zero Rate Loan (PTZ).
Thanks to these devices, you can thus access property more serenely. Numerous opportunities are currently on offer, such as the Spirit Immobilier programme in Sainte-Geneviève, with rates of up to 500 euros per m² cheaper than the average.
* Sources :
https://www.ogic.fr/residence-principale/tva-reduite
https://edito.selogerneuf.com/conseils-d-experts/acheter/avez-vous-le-droit-la-tva-reduite-pour-l-achat-de-votre-logement-neuf-article-32107.html
