Hello,

I tried to post this last night but it is not showing here; apologies
if you see double. I know I know there are some landlords in uk.diy
and I will be doing the renovations myself, so I hope it is not too
off topic.

I was interested in buying a house, renovating it, and then selling
it, hopefully for a profit. I haven't done this before. I saw an
accountant who said that if I did this, the sale will be considered
income and I will have to pay income tax on the profits. The
accountant advised buying the house and then letting it. He said that
this way, when the house is sold, I would have to pay capital gains
tax rather than income tax and this is more tax "efficient" (i.e. less
to pay).

He also said that it would be best to get my other half involved
because any profits would then be offset against two personal tax
allowances, rather than one. We are not married (I think that makes a
difference tax-wise). Is there a uk.tax group where I should be
posting this?

The only thing holding me back from purchasing a suitable house is not
knowing whether to put both names on the mortgage or whether just to
buy and borrow in my name. The last time I spoke to the accountant, he
said that legal ownership was largely irrelevant and that "beneficial
ownership" was what counts.

I have emailed some more questions to him but thought I would ask
here, whilst I await his reply. Is this right? Can I put the house and
mortgage solely in my name but then split the rental income with my
other half? What is "beneficial ownership"? I am surprised that the
name on the house and mortgage is not relevant.

What do you think about the let vs. sale route? Which would you
do/have you done?

Thanks,
Stephen.