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Main residence relief and gardens

28 November 2017 / Graham Buckell
Issue: 4626 / Categories: Comment & Analysis
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Gold in the garden

KEY POINTS

  • Owners of houses with large gardens may sense development opportunities.
  • Whether land of more than half a hectare will fall within the exemption is an objective test.
  • Land to be sold must be part of the garden at the time of sale to avoid losing tax relief.
  • If the landowner develops the property it will become trading stock.
  • Any uncertainty over the application of main residence relief should be disclosed.

The modern trend in housing has been towards ever-smaller gardens reflecting the increasing cost of land. Consequently some owners of houses with particularly large garden areas may be tempted to sell or develop part of their property. Only or main residence relief will often apply to exempt the capital gain but there are several traps to...

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