From April 2015 the government are introducing a new provision to charge capital gains tax (CGT) on non-residents who dispose of UK property.
Before this change it has been the case the non-residents were not subject to CGT on any gain made on the sale of a UK property, whereas a UK resident is subject to CGT at their highest income tax rate. This has been seen as an anomaly by the government and also as an unfair advantage to overseas investors.
The new rules would mean that any increase in value would be subject to CGT at a rate of either 18% (lower rate tax payers) or 28% (higher rate tax payers).