(1)In sections 356A to 356C and this section “qualifying interest” means interest which (apart from those sections or section 357) is eligible for relief under section 353 by virtue of section 355(1)(a) or 356(1).
(2)In sections 356A to 356C and this section “residence” means a building, or part of a building, occupied or intended to be occupied as a separate residence, or a caravan or house-boat; but a building, or part of a building, which is designed for permanent use as a single residence shall be treated as a single residence notwithstanding that it is temporarily divided into two or more parts which are occupied or intended to be occupied as separate residences.
(3)In sections 356A to 356C and this section “period”, with respect to qualifying interest payable by a person in relation to a residence, means a period commencing with—
(a)any day which is the first day for which qualifying interest is payable in relation to the residence by that or any other person (whether or not qualifying interest was payable by any person in relation to the residence for any earlier day),
(b)any day immediately following a day which is the last day for which qualifying interest is payable in relation to the residence by any other person (whether or not qualifying interest is payable by any person in relation to the residence for any later day), or
(c)the first day of a year of assessment,
and ending with either the day immediately preceding the next day such as is mentioned in paragraph (a), (b) or (c) above or (if sooner) the day which is the last day for which qualifying interest is payable in relation to the residence by that person.
(4)In section 356A references to the qualifying maximum during a period are references to the qualifying maximum for the year of assessment in which the period falls.
(5)Where because of section 356A the full amount of qualifying interest paid by a person for a period is not eligible for relief, the part of that interest that is eligible for relief shall be such as bears to the whole of it the same proportion as the part of the amount on which qualifying interest is payable by him for the period that does not exceed the limit under that section in his case bears to the whole of that amount.
(6)Where a person pays qualifying interest on more than one loan, the limit under section 356A in his case shall have effect [F1so that, in determining what (if any) part of the amount on which qualifying interest is payable is the part exceeding the limit, interest on a later loan shall be eligible for relief only to the extent that the whole amount of the limit has not been used in relation to any earlier loan or loans.]
(7)For the purposes of subsection (6) above, where interest is paid on more than one loan made simultaneously to one person it shall be treated as paid on one loan.
(8)Subject to section 356B, where a loan is made jointly to more than one person by whom qualifying interest is payable in relation to a residence under the loan, the amount on which qualifying interest is payable in relation to the residence under the loan by each of the persons shall be treated for the purposes of section 356A as being such amount as is produced by dividing the whole of the amount on which qualifying interest is payable in relation to the residence under the loan by the number of persons by whom qualifying interest is so payable.
(9)Where section 354 continues to apply to a loan by virtue of section 354(5)(a), then sections 356A to 356C and this section shall also continue to have effect as if section 354 applied to it by virtue of section 355(1)(a).
(10)In determining whether the amount on which interest is payable exceeds any limit under section 356A, no account shall be taken of so much (if any) of that amount as consists of interest which has been added to capital and which does not exceed £1,000.
Textual Amendments
F1Words in s. 356D(6) substituted (retrospectively) by Finance Act 1994 (c. 9), Sch. 17 para. 3