I have owned and lived in my house for 50 years. If I were to apply for planning permission to convert it into flats, get this permission and sell the house with planning permission, would I still have to pay capital gains tax (CGT)?  

Arthur Weller replies:  

You should not have to pay any CGT when you sell your house with planning permission due to principal private residence (PPR) relief. However, PPR relief is restricted when there has been expenditure on the property for the purpose of realising a (commercial) gain. But if you look at HMRC’s Capital Gains manual at CG65243, HMRC states that expenditure to obtain planning permission should be ignored, which means that PPR relief is not restricted on such costs.