Tier 1 Entrepreneur: Constroction/property development

[trajan]

Hi
Thank you all for reading this message. Hats off to the forum admins/founders for running such a wonderful community!

I have just been granted a Tier 1 Entrepreneur visa. I have a diverse business background previously and am looking to get into property development /conversion business. I have registered a new company and am a director in it.

I believe there is no restriction on the type of business as long as GBP 200k are invested and at least 2x new jobs are generated for 12 month duration within the next three years.

However the policy guidelines state that if a property is purchased with residential portion in it then the residential part of the property (and its relative value ) cannot be shown as investment. The reason being, i suspect, that Home Office does not want entrepreneurs to live in that property, hence reducing the actual investment.

However, i intend on getting dilapidated property, developing them and selling them as a whole. Is this possible with the Tier 1 Category?

Also, a relative , also on Tier 1 Entrepreneur visa is looking to take over a restaurant. Is that permitted also?

Thank you in advance.

[Darvesh]

are u T1E on 50k? or 200k? access.

However the policy guidelines state that if a property is purchased with residential portion in it then the residential part of the property (and its relative value ) cannot be shown as investment. The reason being, i suspect, that Home Office does not want entrepreneurs to live in that property, hence reducing the actual investment.

it refers to property which is be bought on business name(a commercial poperty) and use for business purpose however if any part of that property used as residential then cost of that residential portion will be deducted off total value of commercial property which u can use as investment.

[trajan]

hi
Thank you for your quick reply. I am a Tier 1 on the 200k investment.

So basically can i get into property development primarily dealing with residential property purchase, development and sale?

Thanks

[Darvesh]

u can do any business as long as u will spend 200k in 3y time and create atleast 2jobs.

howevr keep in mind that cost involve in running ur business activities will only be considered as investment,

[Olasunkanmi]

@ Trajan, as Davesh as advised, you can do any type of business you wish with the 200k category.

Just to add to the discussion, you need to be careful as most builders and construction workers work as self-employed, so employing builders directly into your business will help you qualify for employment criteria and the salary paid to such workers can be added as part of the investment fund.

[cappachino]

In my opinion any property business is a no no
Better check before u start investing

[cappachino]

Just rechecked
Property development and property management is not allowed under tier 1

[trajan]

Thank you .
Can you kindly clarify what you mean when you say cost of running the business would be considered?

I have set up a new company, i am transferring the funds from my personal account to my company account. so that should be considered an investment into the company. Now What the company utilizes those funds for should be another matter... in this case i want the company to buy , develop and sell properties.



I thought Tier1 Investment visa did not allow property business. The same rule applies to a Tier 1 Entrepreneur investing 200k also?

Thanks

[cappachino]

Check point 27 on the guidence

[educators]

Although you cannot invest in property development or property management however you can invest into construction business if that suits you. Please see below UKBA explanation on this:

Property development and property management are excluded from the types of investment accepted for the award of points
Investment in property development and management will not be taken into account for the award of points. This is because it is not the intention of this category to allow you to set up as a landlord and let properties in the United Kingdom. The intention is to promote United Kingdom competitiveness in business and to focus the investment on promoting business beneficial to the United Kingdom economy. A person involved in property development makes improvements of some kind to immovable property (real estate), which increases its value. A person involved in property management is charged with operating immovable property (real estate) for a fee, on behalf of the owner. The restrictions on investment in property development and property management are intended to ensure that the Entrepreneur route is used to promote United Kingdom competitiveness in business.

There is no objection, however, to you investing in companies that are mainly involved in construction.

Money should be fully used in the business and not held in the business bank account in order to qualify for the award of points. Money deposited in a bank account, even if it is in a United Kingdom business bank account, is not counted as investment in business. The money should be used in the business to encourage growth or expansion, to improve services or products and to ensure the business is profitable.

[Olasunkanmi]

@ educators, you are right that only construction company is accepted and not property development. So if trajan still want to stick with buying dilapidated buildings, then he might probably have to knock it down first and then rebuild it from scratch.

[alokvarma]

Hi Trajan

I know this is an old thread, but was curious as to whether you found a way to do this? The reason I ask, is because what you proposed, was not what UKBA were trying to prevent - i.e encouraging landlords live off the rent.

I wonder if this has been ''tested'' with the Home Office, and if there is a fresh view on this?

Cheers

[Atif786]

Hi Guys, i wish i could be wrong in this case however on this particular topic every one seems to be confused,
let me remind you to all the respected forum members , it's a misconception that that any kind of business is allowed, it's not the case,
the nature of Business has to be equivalent to NQF Level 4 and your designation aswell, they have clearly stated in the example of running a cab office and software programmer, plz plz plz everyone make sure you understand the knitty gritty of this visa properly, so many friend of mine got their extension refused because of the same issue.
please go through the policies properly, venthough they haven;t asked for the documents to show nature of business at the time of extension but this is what they want every applicant to get into and make mistakes.
kindly correct me if i am worng

[Olasunkanmi]

@ Atif786, the rule on NQF level 4 was introduced in April 2012 when PSW visa holders were allowed to use 50k cash instead of the 200k requirement for some applicants'.
So which of your friend is extending after just 2years? Try to get your fact right.

With the 200k route, NQF level 4 is not a criteria and maybe your friends were refused under the 200k route with some undisclosed reasons.

[ishfaqsangra]

@atif786 Try to understand the topic first,this all discussion is regarding 200k investment category.Not 50,000(both are two separate issues)Thanks for your input any way.

[Atif786]

hi guys, i was given wrong information, he applied under tier 200k rote but in country.
thanks for the info anyway, i appreciate very one's comments.

[shariftx]

after reading all the replies i still do not understand if one is allowed to do property development business or not and by property development i mean buying land or old houses and building a new house or renovating the old one .

Can anyone give a clear reply quoting the policy guidelines please.