Readers’ forum: Can capital losses be offset?

I act for a husband-and-wife partnership and they purchased a house in Scotland in 2020 to rent out as a holiday cottage.

They made tax losses for the tax years 2021 and 2022 with the rental activity but managed to sell it in February 2023 producing a net capital gain of £52 000 ie £26 000 each. There was a further trading loss of £6 000 from 6 April 2022 to 10 February 2023 (when they sold it) adding to losses carried forward of £15 000 from the earlier tax years.

Is there any scope for the £21 000 losses to be offset against either the capital gain or – more likely – their other sources of income which are mainly from state and private pensions. I know that the rules for holiday lettings are different from buy-to-let activities.

The husband also earns a reasonable...