Inadequate evidence to show the property was a main residence

In 1994 the taxpayer bought a former hospital with the intention of renovating it to make it a home for himself and various generations of his family. In the event he was unable to do this and turned it into a school. In 2002 the school closed and he began to occupy the building moving in some furniture and sleeping there each night. He moved out a year later and eventually sold the property in 2013.

The taxpayer owned other properties throughout his period of ownership of the hospital. These included the White House which was his main residence before and afterwards. He claimed only or main residence relief on the gain from the sale of the hospital. HMRC refused his claim.

The First-tier Tribunal considered the old hospital was not habitable as a dwelling. The fact that it provided ‘basic shelter’ was not...