Win a house

One of my clients has been trying — without success — to sell a house which has been used as his only or main residence. He mentioned to me that he had seen that a couple in similar circumstances in Devon had decided to sell their property by way of a lottery. They aim to sell 40 000 tickets at £20 each and the lucky winner wins the house.

I could see that this seemed like a good idea but before giving my approval I started to wonder about the tax implications. The main concern was whether there would be a stamp duty land tax liability on the transaction or transactions.

Perhaps then more importantly I started to wonder whether the only or main residence exemption for capital gains tax applies.

Would the client be selling the house or is he now selling something else with...