I am in the process of purchasing an old public house to convert into a house, the council have said the change of use will not be an issue, however the property is part of the owners pension fund and the company in charge of this have said that vat will have to be added to the final price. This will put the property out of my price range as it will add a vast amount. Does vat have to be added ? I will be buying the property as domestic with planning permission obtained, not commercial. This is now in the hands of the solicitors who are saying different things. Has anyone came across this situation before ?

That's strange - I have never, never, heard of VAt being charged on property. Instead, the fund would likely have to pay capital gains tax on the profits, but not VAT.