I have just met with clients who have just lost their father and they have assumed they will be entitled to RNRB for his home, even though it is a park home. I cannot find a definition of “residence” but as the home is worth >£250K it will make a big difference!
Can any one point me in the right direction please?
The definition of the home is given in is s5 of 8H IHTA 1984 and refers specifically to a “dwelling house” which is to include “any land occupied and enjoyed with it as its garden” which has been the deceased’s residence at some time during his period of owning the property. The type of residence is not actually defined in the Act.
In R v. Guildford Area Rent Tribunal ex p Grubey [1951] a caravan that was attached to the mains services and had its wheels raised from the ground was not classed as a mobile home and therefore was a dwelling house.
Therefore could it be assumed therefore that a park home is a dwelling house and could qualify if all the RNRB conditions are met?
A person’s ‘residential property interest’, means an interest in a dwelling-house which has been the person’s residence at a time when their estate included that, or any other, interest in that dwelling-house (IHTA84/S8H(2)).
Whilst the definition of ‘dwelling-house’ clearly includes a building of the fixed bricks-and-mortar type of property, where an asset, such as a static caravan or a houseboat, has demonstrably been used as an individual’s residence you can accept it as being a dwelling-house for the purposes of the residence nil-rate band. Each case will depend on its facts.
IHTM46030 says
“Whilst the definition of ‘dwelling-house’ clearly includes a building of the fixed bricks-and-mortar type of property, where an asset, such as a static caravan or a houseboat, has demonstrably been used as an individual’s residence you can accept it as being a dwelling-house for the purposes of the residence nil-rate band. Each case will depend on its facts.”