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As the BBC move out, Shepherd's Bush switches to a new programme
As Aunty leaves the Bush the borough seizes the opportunity to create a proper neighbourhood.
Spotlight on Camden Town
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Revealed: from Reading to Redhill – the top 20 commuter stations
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My design London - Russell Norman
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Find a rated tradesman
Want to add value to your property, make your house a home, or sell your place fast? With 1,000s of tradesmen nationwide, rated and recommended by previous customers, this is the smart way to find a reputable tradesman.
Buy of the week: Camden Town
This two-bedroom flat has a pretty park on its doorstep, while buzzing Camden Town is only 10 minutes’ walk away. Big sash windows and high ceilings give a spacious feel and there’s a private garden with a studio/home office (£525,000).
Swap of the week: Willersey, Glouc
This little Cotswolds beauty is just across the road from the village green and duck pond. For £530,000 you get beams, exposed stone walls and an open fireplace, plus four bedrooms, a useful attic room and lush gardens to enjoy.
Life-changer: Trescowe, Cornwall
For a project brimming with potential, what about this coastal home, yours for £545,000? The family space includes six bedrooms, while its collection of outbuildings overlooking an acre of gardens could become income-generating holiday lets.
Spotlight on Camden Town
The shops and markets clustered around the high street and canal make Camden one of the most colourful of London's neighbourhoods. The area's period homes and loft-style apartments attract a mix of homebuyers.
Property search
This year... profit from a foreign sale
Our lawyer, Fiona McNulty explains why now is a good for UK residents to sell a French property
© Merrily Harpur
Answer: A If you are a UK resident now is a good time to sell. Provided your French property is a furnished holiday let, tax advantages that before applied only to UK furnished holiday lets now apply also to properties within the European economic area.
To be a furnished holiday let you must let your property commercially, that is intend to make a profit, and so letting it to friends who pay you something for the privilege of staying there doesn’t count; the property must be furnished and available to the public for a minimum of 140 days a year and must be let for periods totalling 70 days but must not be let to the same person for 31 days or more.
When you sell a property you are liable to capital gains tax on any profit made, which is usually the difference between the cost of the property and the sale proceeds, and the gain is taxed at 18 per cent after any allowable exemptions.
However, if the property is a furnished holiday let it is taxed as a business asset and the rate for capital gains tax is not 18 per cent but 10 per cent and so there is a saving of eight per cent.
Do remember this rule applies only for this tax year and so the sale of your French property must be concluded before 5 April 2010 to take advantage of this rule.
What's your problem?
If you have a question for Fiona McNulty, email legalsolutions@standard.co.uk. We regret that questions cannot be answered individually.
Fiona is a partner in the property team at Thring Townsend Lee & Pembertons Solicitors www.ttuk.com.
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