Readers’ forum: Availability of relief on let property

My client has told me that he is going to take the holiday of a lifetime next year and will be away from home for six weeks. He intends to let out his house while he is away – he lives alone and does not own any other property. He has asked me whether the rent will qualify for rent-a-room relief? He is aware of the financial limits.

My initial reaction is that it will but I have seen some suggestions that the relief is only available for lodgers ie the owner must be in residence while a room is being let out to the tenant. It is a condition of rent-a-room relief that the property is the recipient’s main residence for all or part of the income period.

The income period here will be the six weeks the owner is away and the property will surely still be...