Second home owners to pay more tax

A change to the tax rules on property gains designed to hit non-residents will also affect UK residents, making owners of second properties (other than buy-to-lets) likely to pay substantially more gains tax on their profits.
HMRC proposes to remove the current entitlement of property owners to decide which of their properties is their main residence, which can be sold free of tax. The way the rules work enables a canny operator to sell both a second and their main property without paying any tax. In future, HMRC proposes to make the decision itself.