When owners sell the house, they pay a tax of 18%, and if the house is not their primary residence, it increases to 28%. Non-residents of the United Kingdom are exempt from the Capital Gains Tax, but it seems that the situation will change soon, according to ee24.com citing propertywire.com.
At the beginning of December, the UK Chancellor (the British equivalent of the Minister of Finance) George Osborne may make a statement about CGT introduction to non-residents. Such a measure is associated with an increase in the number of home sales in London - a city where real estate has become a safe haven for foreign investors.
According to the director of Savills, Yolande Barnes, this won't be a limiting factor for buyers from abroad, because even with the introduction of this tax, the ownership of real estate in London will be less expensive than in other megacities of the world. The head of Knight Frank, Grainne Gilmore, in contrast, believes that the imposing of the tax on foreign real estate owners will have certain consequences. However, Gilmore noted that nowadays the absence of this tax is not the main reason for the attractiveness of London to foreign investors.