Rent a Room

Attached barn

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I have a client who lives in a reasonably large and old property with a barn attached.  The barn was converted into accommodation some years ago but has only been used by visiting family and friends . He is considering letting it under AirBnB.  The barn is self contained and there is a stipulation when planning permission for the conversion was given, that it cannot be sold seperately - it must be sold as one unit with the house.  

Will the letting income qualify for Rent a Room relief?

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Jerome lane stewart and co
By Jerome Lane
23rd Jul 2019 09:46

I think the new rules will prevent the relief applying as there is not really a shared occupancy if the dwellings are separate self contained units.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploa...

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Replying to Jerome_Lane:
Head of woman
By Rebecca Cave
26th Jul 2019 08:42

That clause was never passed so the shared occupancy rule did not come into effect for rent a room relief

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By Vile Nortin Naipaan
23rd Jul 2019 11:44

Possibly. You need to examine the case law on when one dwelling can be considered to be part of another dwelling for main residence relief purposes. If that's the case, it will qualify currently, and the new clause 14 will only bite when the main part of the main residence is unoccupied.

Otherwise, you're not letting accommodation in the main residence, and the new clause 14 is not relevant.

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By ireallyshouldknowthisbut
23rd Jul 2019 13:40

A VNN says, this is complex.

On the face of it it sounds like potentially two dwellings, but HMRC's manuals give a long list of thing to consider along the lines of how temporary or permanent the division is. ie if its one dwelling house, or two.

I have a few clients like this with an opinion from me, which ends with a "HMRC's interpretation may differ from my own" as you can rarely be definitive on the issue.

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By Martin B
24th Jul 2019 14:44

Rent a Room -new clause 14. For future reference

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Replying to Martin B:
Head of woman
By Rebecca Cave
26th Jul 2019 08:43

Clause 14 is a red herring! It was never passed! Read the law folks.

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Replying to Rebecca Cave:
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By C.Y.Nical
29th Jul 2019 10:39

Thank heaven for Rebecca Cave. My wife and I have been taking Rent-a-Room relief for the occupation of a granny annexe and I had heard about the new shared occupancy test. I was slowly being driven mad by my failure to find it - and now I know why!
I will now double-check that we satisfy the other tests, it's a while since I reviewed them, but meanwhile Thank You Accountingweb, and Thank You Rebecca Cave!
Michael

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Replying to Rebecca Cave:
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By C.Y.Nical
30th Jul 2019 18:23

Deleted - duplicate post (first attempt did not seem to load so I tried again)

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