{not a humble brag}

My wife and I own two houses – our main one and a holiday place that I inherited.

Both are in joint names.

IF we made both houses mortgage-free can we take my name off one house and her name off the other so that we each legally own one house each?

Yes (Mrs boardinbob does this for a living, albeit in Scotland). It’s known as a Change of Parties here

Is this a way a couple can avoid 2nd home rules?

https://www.gov.uk/tax-sell-home/nominating-a-home

You can of course have one each. But if you live together, you’ll have a hard time convincing HMRC that you have separate principal residences. And have to pay CGT.

<span style=”font-size: 0.8rem;”>Is this a way a couple can avoid 2nd home rules?</span>

I don’t know, but it is the reason for my enquiry.

And have to pay CGT.

When? There’s no CGT payable for transfers between a married couple.

If we just gave the holiday place to our (3) girls then we’d have to pay CGT.

I think the principle residence thing is the key one. Unless you decide to live apart

Well the Welsh government are just saying that it’s 2nd homes at the moment but if course they could change their minds at any point.

There’s also the question of inheritance tax, if its in both your names there is no inheritance, if its in seperate names then it would be considered part of the estate.

Possibly, I’m speculating here but would be worth checking out.

If you’re not living apart them one of them is a second home.

There’s also the question of inheritance tax, if its in both your names there is no inheritance, if its in separate names then it would be considered part of the estate.

this.  Julie and I owned a flat each instead of both in common.  When she died her flat became part of her estate.  Fortunately it was under the IHT threshold just.  However no CGT applied and when I sell up the CGT will be less as its only from the date I took ownership.  So for me its worked out

there are advantages and disadvantages to owning one each.  Which is stronger depends on your personal circumstances.  also the tax man takes a very dim view of attempted manipulation.  You need real advice from someone who understands the complexities

<span style=”font-size: 0.8rem;”>…..even if you only own one home?</span>

What happens if you own one home but live elsewhere in rented accommodation (i.e. for work)?

When? There’s no CGT payable for transfers between a married couple.

When one of you chooses to sell. CGT exemption only applies to a principal residence. Most likely the same rules apply for second homes. If you don’t live there, it’s a second home and will be treated as such. I imagine there are minimum occupancy requirements too.

I don’t know about the rest of the UK but in Scotland it’s a second home if it’s not your sole or main residence and is used more than 25 days in each year. The key factor here is residence, not just ownership.

My wife and I own two houses – our main one and a holiday place that I inherited.

Both are in joint names.

IF we made both houses mortgage-free can we take my name off one house and her name off the other so that we each legally own one house each?

Yes

All that stuff up there maybe relevant, but the answer to your question is yes.

What happens if you own one home but live elsewhere in rented accommodation (i.e. for work)?

Then the house that you own isn’t your principal residence.

You can certainly arrange ownership as you suggest, but it’s probably worth mentioning why you want to have this arrangement, as it might not achieve your goals.