Relocation policy

The amount an employee may claim will vary according to their personal circumstances, as follows:

Buying and selling

The entitlement is to claim for reimbursement of actual expenditure up to the full amount of the allowance of £8,000.

Buying only or selling only

The entitlement is to claim reimbursement of actual expenditure up to 65 per cent of the £8,000 allowance.

Rented accommodation

The entitlement is to claim the actual expenditure based on a percentage of the allowance as follows:

In situation 3, the figure will also apply if the employee is moving from the family home into rented accommodation.

Late purchase of property

If the employee decides to buy a property after their appointment, they may qualify for reimbursement of the relevant costs. The employee must have made a firm commitment to buy within six months of their date of appointment. We can extend this to nine months in the case of new employees who have a six-month probationary period.

The employee may move into rented accommodation and then claim for later moving into a purchased property. In these circumstances, the full entitlement less any previous claims will apply.

Details of claims

Claims for relocation expenses are subject to:

• expenditure actually being incurred
• provision of valid original receipts. If the employee wishes to reclaim the VAT element, the VAT number and rate of VAT must be shown on the receipt. The total value of any claim including VAT must not exceed the relocation expenses entitlement.

The employee may decide how to use their relocation expenses only for the following reasons: 

Investigatory visits
The employee and their spouse, civil partner and direct dependents may claim travelling and meal allowances for up to four visits to the area to select accommodation and, where necessary, schools.

Removal costs
These are to cover the removal of furniture and personal effects from the old property to the new. It includes moving items into and out of storage.

Storage costs
These cover the cost of the storage of possessions if completion dates cannot be synchronised.

Legal fees
These include conveyance costs, solicitors, disbursements, stamp duty and land registry fees.

Sales costs
This covers estate agents' fees or, where no agent is used, advertising costs.

Survey fees 
This includes standard mortgage surveys, full property surveys and any specialist property survey.

Lodging costs
Entitlement is to claim the cost of temporary lodging in the new residential area if the employee has to maintain two homes. A return journey home at weekends at the rates set out below may also be claimed.

Interim travel
An employee eligible for relocation assistance may wish to claim for interim travel instead of lodging allowance. This is permitted if the journey enables them to get to work reasonably and to work effectively.

We consider a travelling distance over 45 miles from home to the new work base to be unreasonable. Executive directors and assistant directors may agree to a longer journey following consideration of the employee's circumstances.

Employees may claim travel as follows:

• if the employee travels by car, the HMRC Approved Mileage Allowance Payment (AMAP) rate will apply. If the employee uses a contract hire car, they must use the AMAP rate. Mileage is counted as 'private mileage' for the annual charge
• or, if the employee uses public transport, we will reimburse the actual cost. We only reimburse daily travel costs for thirteen weeks

General disturbance
The purpose of this allowance is to offset the loss. Provided there is no gain, which would make the payments liable to taxation, we will consider claims for:

• relaying or fitting of carpets
• alteration or replacement of curtains, rails, tracks and fittings
• disconnection and connection of gas and electrical appliances

We will not consider claims for costs incurred by replacing items sold with the old property. For example, carpets, sheds or greenhouses, fitted furniture or double glazing.