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

Arthur Weller replies:  

You should not have to pay any capital gains tax 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.