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CGT incentives for landlords selling to long-term tenants

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The Treasury is reported to be taking seriously a proposal drawn up by the right-leaning think-tank, Onward, to offer CGT relief to private landlords who sell properties to their long-term tenants.

Under the proposals:

  • existing buy-to-let properties would be eligible for 100% CGT relief if the property is sold to a sitting tenant who has lived there for 3 years or more; and
  • the gain from this tax relief would be split evenly between the landlord and the tenant, giving the landlord a windfall when they sell and the tenant a cash sum towards their mortgage deposit.

The authors suggest this policy could be paid for by restricting other tax reliefs for buy-to-let investors, such as reducing the private residence relief period from 18 months to 6 months and abolishing lettings relief of up to £40,000.

The think-tank estimates that 88,000 households would take up the relief each year, with an average gain per property of £15,000. See https://bit.ly/2NyYqBS.

Issue: 1416
Categories: News
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