If We Sell at a Loss, Will We Still Have to Pay CGT?

We are looking to move and are considering a buy-to-let scheme on our house in order to rent this property out.  We purchased the property at £250K and it is currently valued at £230K.  If we rent the property out for a year or two and then sell at £230K, will we still have to pay CGT even though the sale was at loss to the original purchase price?

If you look on HMRC website Capital Gains Manual at page CG14200  (www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/cgmanual/cg14200.htm) you can see that the capital gains computation is simply the disposal proceeds less the original expenditure. In your case this results in a negative £20,000 figure so you will have no CGT to pay. You have a capital loss that you can offset against any capital gains made this year or in future years. Also see page CG15810 (www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/cgmanual/cg15810.htm)