Treasury "considering further taxes on foreign UK property owners", according to press reports

Sky News has reported that the Treasury is "actively investigating" imposing capital gains tax (CGT) on foreign owners who resell a UK property. Non-residents are currently exempt from CGT on property sales, while UK residents are subject to CGT on profits made when reselling all but their main homes. CGT is charged at 18% for basic rate taxpayers and 28% for higher rate taxpayers.

A spokesperson for the Treasury told Out-Law.com that the report was "pre-Autumn Statement speculation".

According to the report, bringing foreign-owned properties into the scope of CGT would not raise significant sums, but would address concerns about favourable treatment for overseas property investors. Foreign property owners are liable for CGT in many other European countries.

Around 70% of the most expensive newly-built properties in London are purchased by non-UK citizens, and around 65% of these buyers intend to rent their properties rather than live in them, according to estate agency Knight Frank. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said that house prices in London rose by nearly 9% in the year to August, compared with around 2% elsewhere in the UK.

Responding to the report, the British Property Federation said that the reason behind this increase was the lack of supply, not foreign buyers. Penalising people who wanted to invest in the UK would lead to fewer homes being built, as would the related uncertainty, its chief executive Liz Peace said.

"It makes no sense to slap kneejerk taxes on people who want to spend money in the UK and contribute to the UK economy," she said. "Uncertainty of this kind is hugely damaging to Britain's image as a country that is 'open for business', and far outweighs the paltry sums which this tax would raise – indeed, it is only with foreign investment that many London schemes are able to go ahead."

Property expert Suzanne Gill said that the introduction of CGT on these transactions would be "a real issue, administratively" for the tax authorities.

"An increase in stamp duty land tax (SDLT) would be less burdensome, and must be more likely: recent changes in rates have not affected the property market," she said.

"What does affect the market is uncertainty. An SDLT announcement can be quickly absorbed, but a period of consultation over CGT will have an impact - especially following on from the introduction of the annual tax on enveloped dwellings (ATED) earlier this year," she said.

ATED came into force on 1 April this year, and the first payments were due in October. It applies to company-owned residential properties valued at over £2 million, and is intended to ensure that people who purchase high value residential properties in the name of a company, partnership or other 'non-natural person' pay their fair share of tax. Dwellings purchased as part of a genuine property rental business, held for charitable purposes or run as a commercial business are exempt from the charge.