CGT on retirement property and costs to offset

My Mum died in December 2021 and my sister and I are the sole beneficiaries of her estates. We completed the sale of Mum's retirement flat in March 2024 and I am aware that we will potentially need to pay capital gains tax within 60 days of the sale. The property was originally valued at £190,000 for inheritance tax and probate purposes, although we were well within the inheritance tax threshold. The property sold for £230,000, a shared gain of £40,000 before costs and CGT allowance of £6,000 each. I have some questions about the costs we are able to offset: - as it was a retirement property, we have incurred property management costs and fees of £7,000-£8,000 over the 2-3 years - are we able to offset these costs? I've had mixed advice on this, including a call to HMRC who said we could because it is a cost we would not have usually incurred. Please can you confirm this is correct? - we had a previous sale fall through in April 2022 as we were just about to exchange - are we able to offset the legal costs for this unsuccessful sale? I have attempted to use the calculator to work out if any CGT is due, but have a couple of questions in respect of this as well: - One of the questions asked whilst using the calculator is 'Are you claiming any CGT losses from tax years from before 2023 to 2024?', my response has been 'No', but I don't really understand what this question means. Am I also able to use my CGT allowance from 2022/23, which would have been £12,300 in that year? - Are we able to use my husband's CGT allowance for the 2023/24 year? As he is my spouse, is he also included in the 'gain', although he's not a named beneficiary?

Hi 
You cannot use any of the costs from the care home as an allowable deduction as these are not related to the sale of the property. 
The previous legal costs are allowable as the sale did not proceed.
Unless you have sold any assets previously you will not have any capital losses to use.
You cannot use the annual exemption from a previous year as it is only the exemption in the year of disposal that can be deducted.
You cannot use your husbands CGT allowance as he is not a named beneficiary.
Guidance on what is allowable is at Capital Gains Manual CG15250 - Expenditure: incidental costs of acquisition and disposal
Thank you.

Thank you for your response. Just to clarify - the costs were not for a care home. The property is within a retirement complex and we have been required to pay property fees over the past 2 years, which would contribute to the up keep and improvement of the buildings. I have called the HMRC about this previously and have been told that it is a cost we would be able to offset because it is a cost we would not normally have incurred had we not inherited the property. Please can you clarify this because I am getting conflicting information?

Hi Rufus99

Any costs claimed against capital gains must meet the definitions at  CG15150P onwards, in particular
CG15180 - Expenditure: enhancement expenditure - HMRC internal manual - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
for the type of costs being described.
If the fees were purely the owners contribution to general maintenance/upkeep of the building/property then would not qualify as enhancement expenditure for capital gains purposes.
It would usually have been allowable as a revenue cost against any rental income. General maintenance costs are not allowable costs against capital gains.
If any part of the fees were for improvements such as upgrading parts or the building to a higher standard or adding things that were not there before then this element may be allowable against any capital gain.
Please see the attached link CG15180.

Thank you