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Inside King Charles III’s $25 Billion Real Estate Empire

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The new British monarch lords over seven palaces, 10 castles, 12 homes, 56 cottages, and 14 ancient ruins where he can hang up his crown.

Above: Osborne House, East Cowes, Isle of Wight


Charles III’s official coronation may not occur until May 6, but the new British monarch has already inherited a $25 billion real estate portfolio fit for a king.

When he acceded the throne in September, the 73-year-old sovereign assumed control of a $42 billion empire, much of it in real estate. Forbes scoured property records, annual reports, audits, archives and legislative documents to find all of the king’s new possessions. His holdings span from Buckingham Palace—the official headquarters of the monarchy, which Forbes estimates is worth $4.9 billion—to Highgrove House, a country residence in Gloucestershire that Charles first purchased in 1980 for £865,000 ($3.7 million today,) now valued at $39 million.

Although he has only had the crown for a few weeks, Charles is expected to break with seven generations of tradition and reject Buckingham Palace as his London residence to remain in his current home at Clarence House (estimated value: $72 million.) But he will also reportedly continue to spend some time at Highgrove. That means he’ll have to pay about $740,000 in annual rent to his son William, who succeeded him as Prince of Wales and Duke of Cornwall and now holds Highgrove under the Duchy of Cornwall.


KING OF THESE CASTLES

Charles III’s $25 billion real estate empire is spread across the United Kingdom as well as two cottages in Transylvania. Here are all the properties where he can stow thrones.


Those properties are part of a vast collection of at least seven palaces, 10 castles, 12 homes, 56 holiday cottages and 14 ancient ruins, per Forbes’ count. Aside from Balmoral Castle in Scotland and Sandringham House in Norfolk, which he inherited from the Queen and now personally owns, none of these opulent residences and historic monuments are directly owned by the King. Most are held by the Crown Estate, the Duchy of Lancaster and the Duchy of Cornwall, institutions held “in right of the Crown” for the duration of his reign. Others are controlled by the monarchy itself “in trust” for his successors and the nation, while another four properties are held by two foundations which the King established when he was Prince of Wales.

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And it’s not just palaces and countryside homes: through the Crown Estate and the Duchies, Charles now also oversees $12.9 billion in commercial, residential and agricultural properties throughout the U.K., ranging from Ascot Racecourse and the Oval cricket ground to at least three golf courses, a private airfield and the Savoy Chapel in Westminster, the private church of the reigning monarch. The Crown also holds one of England’s most famous monuments, Stonehenge, which was given “to the nation” in 1918 by Cecil Chubb, a local resident who purchased it for £6,600 in 1915 (about $590,000 today).

As the head of state in 15 Commonwealth realms—in addition to 13 British territories and three crown dependencies—Charles also has access to at least 49 residences for state visits across the globe, at the homes of his representatives in each nation. Whether he’s traveling to Canada (Rideau Hall in Ottawa,) the Caribbean (King’s House in Jamaica) or the Pacific (Admiralty House in Sydney,) the new monarch always has a place to rest the head that wears the crown.

Closer to home, the lavish estates, extravagant mansions and crumbling ruins maintained by the British monarchy, royal foundations or by the King personally are spread throughout three of the four nations of the United Kingdom, plus two cottages in Transylvania. And there used to be more: between 1998 and 1999, the Crown Estate ceded ownership of six castles, two palaces and one fort in Scotland—including the millennium-old Edinburgh Castle—to the Scottish government.

But only a small number of homes—fourteen—serve as official residences of the King and the royal family. Two more royal residences are personally owned by other family members—Charles’s sister, Princess Anne, owns Gatcombe Park in Gloucestershire (estimated value: $29 million), while the Duke of Gloucester, his first cousin once removed, has put his Barnwell Manor in Northamptonshire up for sale for $5.4 million. Another of Charles’ new digs, the royal palace in Northern Ireland at Hillsborough Castle, is owned directly by the British government, which purchased it in 1925 for £24,000 (or $1.3 million today.)

Average citizens can also get in on a piece of the royal lifestyle: the Duchies of Cornwall and Lancaster operate 56 holiday homes and cottages across England, Wales and the Isles of Scilly that can be rented out, while the Prince of Wales’ Charitable Fund operates two bed-and-breakfasts in Romania. Everything else, including medieval masterpieces such as the Tower of London and Caernarfon Castle, is a tourist attraction managed by various charities and trusts.

Forbes valued these properties with the help of estimates provided by Lenka Dušková Munter, a sales specialist for historical properties at Czech real estate agency Luxent, and Colby Short, co-founder and CEO of estate agent website GetAgent.co.uk. Here’s a breakdown of King Charles III’s real estate empire.

 

ENGLAND

BUCKINGHAM PALACE

Est. Value: $4.9 BILLION

The official residence of the royal family since 1837, the 775-room palace with a private swimming pool is also King Charles’s birthplace. First purchased by George III in 1761 when it was still a house, construction to convert it into a palace began in 1820 and only completed in 1847 with the addition of a new wing for Queen Victoria’s growing family, financed largely by the sale of the Royal Pavilion in Brighton for £53,000 ($5.4 million today.) Despite an extensive renovation which began in 2017 and will cost more than $400 million, Charles is known to dislike the “big house.”


HAMPTON COURT PALACE

Est. Value: $1.2 B

Known as the Tudor Palace, Hampton Court is where King Henry VIII spent most of his time, with all six of his wives: by the 1530s, he had added a hotel, theater and numerous works of art; visitors can now see Mantegna’s Triumphs of Caesar plus works by Caravaggio and Rembrandt. The palace also features a grand colonnade, Fountain Court—designed by Sir Christopher Wren—which had a cameo in the second season of Netflix’s Bridgerton.


TOWER OF LONDON

Est. Value: $1.1 B

Built by William the Conqueror in the late 11th century, the towering castle at the heart of London is home to the Crown Jewels, worth an estimated $4 billion. Three Queens of England—Anne Boleyn, Catherine Howard and Jane Grey—were executed here in the 1500s.


WINDSOR CASTLE

Est. Value: $743 MILLION

Windsor Castle was completed in 1086, one year before William the Conqueror’s death. In 1377, King Edward III spent £50,000 (some $57 million today) to convert it from a military fort into a gothic palace—the largest expense of any medieval king on a single building. Over its nearly thousand-year history, the castle been home to 40 monarchs and is still a favorite of the royal family. The surrounding estate includes Windsor Great Park, golf courses and Ascot Racecourse.


ST. JAMES’S PALACE

Est. Value: $700 M

Overlooking Green Park and St. James’s Park in London—two of the eight royal parks in the capital held by the Crown—St. James’s Palace was once the home of Elizabeth I during the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1558. More recently, it was also the location of King Charles’s accession ceremony on September 10.


LANCASTER CASTLE

Est. value: $674 M

Over its thousand-plus-year history, Lancaster Castle has served as a Roman fort, the site of witch trials and as a prison—until it was decommissioned and converted into a tourist attraction in 2011.


KENSINGTON PALACE

Est. Value: $630 M

The childhood home of Prince William and Prince Harry, Kensington was known as the “party palace” in the late 17th century for hosting extravagant balls where guests “ate, drank, gambled and flirted until dawn.” The palace is still William and Kate’s official London residence, while Prince Harry and Meghan Markle live in a $23 million mansion in Montecito, California, replete with 9 bedrooms, 19 bathrooms, a private pool, spa, theater and tennis court.


BANQUETING HOUSE

Est. Value: $296 M

The only remnant of the Palace of Whitehall—once the largest palace in Europe until its destruction in a fire in 1698—Banqueting House in London is home to a 2,420-square-foot ceiling painting by Peter Paul Rubens commissioned by Charles I in 1629. (Rubens was paid £3,000 for the work—some $540,000 today—plus a heavy gold chain.) It’s also where Charles I met a gruesome end on January 30, 1649: just two decades after commissioning the Rubens ceiling, he walked under it and was then executed outside Banqueting House.


CARISBROOKE CASTLE

Est. value: $225 M

Located on the Isle of Wight, Carisbrooke Castle carries much darker memories for the royals: After its capture by parliamentary forces in 1642 during the English Civil War, the dethroned King Charles I was imprisoned there in the years leading up to his execution.


ELTHAM PALACE

Est. Value: $211 M

Described as “unique marriage between a medieval and Tudor palace and a 1930s millionaire’s mansion,” Eltham Palace was used as a royal palace by monarchs who hunted in the surrounding parks from the 14th to the 16th century. Henry VIII, the last king to reside there, spent his childhood at Eltham. In 1933, millionaires Stephen and Virginia Courtauld took a 99-year-lease on the palace from the Crown and installed a bomb shelter in the basement during World War II; they eventually moved out in 1944 after growing tired of the repeated air raids from the German Luftwaffe.


THATCHED HOUSE LODGE

Est. Value: $131 M

Thatched House Lodge is a Regency-era home built in the early 18th century on a 4-acre estate in Richmond Park, the largest park in London and another royal possession. The property is home to Queen Elizabeth’s first cousin Princess Alexandra, who has rented it from the Crown Estate since 1963 and paid a £670,000 premium ($1.4 million today) to extend the lease in 1994.


RESTORMEL MANOR

(14 Properties) Est. Value: $86 M

The Duchy of Cornwall’s 14 holiday properties near the medieval town of Lostwithiel in Cornwall are housed in and around Restormel Manor, a 500-year-old Gothic-style mansion with a steam room, sauna, tennis court and an indoor heated swimming pool. But living like an English lord is pricey: one week at the nine-bedroom Restormel Manor property in December will cost $4,000.


SANDRINGHAM ESTATE

Est. Value: $73 M

One of two properties personally owned by King Charles, which he inherited from his late mother, Sandringham in Norfolk has been in the royal family since 1862. The estate includes the Royal Studs, a thoroughbred horse farm first established in 1886, as well as rental properties spread across 13 nearby villages—with a notorious “no cats” policy for would-be renters, reportedly due to the Queen’s fears the felines would kill the pheasants and partridges kept as game birds. Charles is also reportedly looking to sell some of the Queen’s prized race horses and scale down the Royal Studs.


CLARENCE HOUSE

Est. Value: $72 M

King Charles’s longtime home is one of the last surviving aristocratic townhouses in London, a stuccoed mansion completed in 1827 at the cost of £22,232 ($2 million today)—more than double the original estimate. The Queen also lived there while she was still a princess, and it served as the home of her mother’s impressive art collection, featuring works by Fabergé and John Piper.


KEW PALACE

Est. Value: $70 M

Set among the Royal Botanic Gardens—home to more than 50,000 plants including rare and threatened species housed in a grand Victorian-era greenhouse—Kew Palace was the private retreat of King George III during a long period of mental illness, starting in 1788. The gardens are also home to the Chinese-style Great Pagoda, a 163-foot-tall tower with 80 dragons carved from gilded wood. The dragons, removed in 1784 and restored in 2018, were rumored to have been sold to pay off King George IV’s gambling debts.


DOVER CASTLE

Est. Value: $66 M

Standing guard over the Strait of Dover, the shortest sea crossing between England and Europe, Dover Castle originated as a Roman fort in 43 CE. Another castle on the site was erected in 1066 by William the Conqueror, who captured the city after the Battle of Hastings. The structure that stands today was established by Henry II in 1189. And while British royals haven’t used the castle since 1625, it’s been used in warfare throughout the centuries, including as a garrison for 16,000 troops during the First World War, a hospital in World War II and as a backup seat of government in case of a nuclear attack during the Cold War.


CARLISLE CASTLE

Est. value: $45 M

Located about ten miles south of the modern English-Scottish border, Carlisle Castle served as the Kingdom of England’s fortress against the Scots for half a century until the two realms were united in 1603. Built on the ruins of a Roman fort that provided support for garrisons on Hadrian’s Wall, the castle was besieged seven times by the Scots between 1173 and 1461, when it was again besieged during the English Wars of the Roses. It served as a base for Edward I in 1296; the prison of Mary, Queen of Scots in 1567; and as a British army barracks from the 1820s until 1959.


BAGSHOT PARK

Est. Value: $39 M

Built in 1879 on the orders of Queen Victoria as a home for her third son, Prince Arthur, Bagshot Park in Surrey is a Tudor Gothic-style mansion set on 52 acres of gardens, including stables and a working farm. Prince Edward, Charles’s youngest brother, has lived there since 1998, paying roughly $100,000 in annual rent to the Crown Estate. Charles’ other brother, Prince Andrew, lives a 20-minute drive away at the Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park, which he rented with a 75-year-lease in 2003 for a one-time payment of £1 million (or $1.8 million now).


HIGHGROVE HOUSE

Est. Value: $39 M

King Charles’ longtime family home, Highgrove was built in 1798 and acquired by the then-Prince of Wales in 1980. The estate is home to 15 acres of organic gardens with heritage varieties of fruits and vegetables and an adjacent shop where visitors can buy eggs, wine and spirits made on the property. It’s also a short drive from Ray Mill House, the private home of Charles’ wife, Camilla, the Queen Consort. She purchased the six-bedroom countryside cottage for £850,000 ($1.7 million today) in January 1996, a year after her divorce from her first husband, Andrew Parker Bowles—and just seven months before Charles’s own divorce with Princess Diana in August that year. Diana died a year later, in August 1997.


FROGMORE HOUSE

Est. Value: $35 M

Named for the numerous amphibians that live in the marshes around the property, Frogmore House was purchased by King George III in 1792 as a country retreat for his wife, Queen Charlotte. The mansion’s Britannia Room features paintings, porcelain and furniture taken from the interior of the royal yacht, HMY Britannia, after it was decommissioned in 1997. The Frogmore estate is also home to the mausoleum of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert and Frogmore Cottage, the U.K. residence of Prince Harry and Meghan. In September 2020, the couple repaid $3.2 million in refurbishing expenses, originally covered by British taxpayers.


CHESTER CASTLE

Est. Value: $22 M

One of the many castles built by William the Conqueror in 1070, Chester Castle served as the military headquarters for Henry III’s and Edward I’s conquest of Wales, and as a Royalist headquarters during the English Civil War. The castle, which was used by the British military until 1999, features a chapel with wall paintings dating to 1240.


OSBORNE HOUSE

Est. Value: $19 M

This Italianate mansion was purchased by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in 1845 for £28,000 ($3 million today) as a seaside retreat on the Isle of Wight. The eclectic mansion was designed with architectural features drawn from around the world: the Italian palazzo-style home with extensive terraces; the Indian-style Durbar Wing, in honor of Victoria’s status as Empress of India; and the Swiss Cottage, an “educational tool” for the royal children, where they grew fruit, flowers and vegetables.


DUCHY OF LANCASTER COTTAGES

(16 Properties) Est. Value: $12 M

The Duchy of Lancaster owns fifteen holiday cottages in Scarborough, a seaside resort located near North York Moors national park. A one-night stay at the 8-bedroom Scalby Lodge in late November will set you back some $720. Root Farm Cottage is a two-bedroom property in the Forest of Bowland in Lancashire, forming part of the Whitewell Estate, last visited by the Queen Elizabeth in 2006 for her 80th birthday celebrations.


LOSKEYLE COTTAGES

(2 Properties) Est. Value: $4.1 M

The Duchy of Cornwall owns four holiday cottages—with complimentary fishing for guests—in St Tudy, a small countryside village in Cornwall. A seven-night stay in November in Menhenick, a two-story, three-bedroom barn, costs $735.


DOLPHIN HOUSE

Est. Value: $2 M

The six-bedroom home on the island of Tresco is housed in an old granite rectory, with hilltop views of the Atlantic Ocean and the 19th-century Round Island lighthouse.


TAMARISK

Est. Value: $1.5 M

Tamarisk is a four-bedroom cottage on Garrison Hill in Hugh Town on the island of St. Mary’s. Its name comes from the tamarisk trees on the property, a flowering plant mentioned in the Old Testament and the Iliad. While still an official royal residence, Charles and Diana snubbed the home on their vacations to the Isles of Scilly, preferring to stay with friends in Tresco.


BERKHAMSTED CASTLE

Before it crumbled into ruins, Berkhamsted Castle was a motte-and-bailey built out of timber in 1070. It was briefly the home of Thomas Becket, then Archbishop of Canterbury, who rebuilt the castle in stone between 1155 and 1164. From 1225 to 1272, it was refurbished and expanded to serve as the palace of Richard, Earl of Cornwall, believed to be the richest man in England at the time.


BOLINGBROKE CASTLE

King Henry IV was born in the 13th-century Bolingbroke Castle in 1367, but all that remains are the sunken hexagonal walls and surrounding earthworks.


CROMWELL’S CASTLE

One of the few remaining fortifications from the Interregnum—the period between 1649 and 1660 when Oliver Cromwell ruled England after executing Charles I—Cromwell’s Castle is a circular gun tower built in 1651, after Cromwell’s forces recaptured the Isles of Scilly from the royalists.


KING CHARLES’S CASTLE

Adjacent to Cromwell’s castle on the island of Tresco, King Charles’s Castle was built during the reign of King Edward VI and renamed by pro-Charles I royalists during the English Civil War. The gambit didn’t work—parliamentarian troops bypassed the now-ruined castle by landing on the other side of Tresco in 1651.


LAUNCESTON CASTLE

Launceston Castle is a ruined 13th-century round tower and the remnants of a castle originally built by William the Conqueror for his half-brother. It later served as a prison where George Fox, founder of the Quakers, was detained in 1656 and held executions until 1821.


LYDFORD CASTLE

Lydford Castle sits on the western edge of Dartmoor national park, a vast expanse of moorlands where the Duchy of Cornwall owns a third of the land. The 12th-century square castle was a prison from the Middle Ages until the 1700s.


MAIDEN CASTLE

Described as “one of the largest and most complex Iron Age hillforts in Europe,” Maiden Castle is the size of 50 soccer pitches, with enormous ramparts dating to the 1st century BCE.


PEVERIL CASTLE

Now in ruins, Peveril Castle, was one of the earliest Norman fortresses in England, with a keep built by Henry II in 1176.


RESTORMEL CASTLE

Once a “luxurious retreat” in the 14th century and the home of Edward, the first Duke of Cornwall, Restormel Castle is now a ruin with a large circular keep.


ST. MARY’S COTTAGES

(3 properties)

Besides Tamarisk, the Duchy of Cornwall also owns three more holiday homes on St. Mary’s, including a two-bedroom property in a 17th-century guard house and another housed in a former gun battery.


TICKHILL CASTLE

Now occupied by a private tenant who rents the land from the Duchy of Lancaster, the 11th-century Tickhill Castle was expanded by several English kings until its decline during the Wars of the Roses in the 15th century: King Henry I built a gatehouse and a wall with ramparts in 1130, and Henry II added a new keep and a stone bridge in 1182.


TINTAGEL CASTLE

Located on the rugged northern coast of Cornwall, little remains of this 13th-century castle.


TRESCO COTTAGES

(15 properties)

The Duchy of Cornwall—which owns nearly all of the land on the Isles of Scilly—has 15 holiday cottages on the island of Tresco, in addition to Dolphin House.


TREMATON CASTLE

The ruins of Trematon Castle in eastern Cornwall were converted into a private garden with evergreen oaks and wild flowers in 2012, when it was leased by garden designers Julian and Isabel Bannerman from the Duchy of Cornwall.


TUTBURY CASTLE

Built in 1071 for Norman baron Henry de Ferrers, this now-ruined castle was confiscated by Henry III during the Second Barons’ War in 1267. Elizabeth I imprisoned Mary, Queen of Scots at Tutbury multiple times between 1569 and 1585, when she was moved 80 miles south to Fotheringhay Castle and executed.

WALES

CAERNARFON CASTLE

Est. Value: $289 M

Inspired by imperial Roman architecture and the walls of ancient Constantinople, the 13th-century Caernarfon Castle is ringed by 2,400 feet of stone walls studded with 12 octagonal towers and surrounded by a moat. King Edward I ordered its construction in 1283 after the conquest of Wales, but the colossal structure took 47 years and £25,000 (more than $23 million today) to complete—roughly 90% of England’s annual income at the time. It also holds a special resonance to the new king: Charles was invested as Prince of Wales at Caernarfon in 1969.


LLWYNYWERMOD

Est. Value: $3.9 M

Located near the mountains of Brecon Beacons national park, Llwynywermod was King Charles III’s Welsh retreat while he was Prince of Wales. The 192-acre estate is now in the hands of his son, Prince William, who has his own Welsh connection: The wedding ring he gave Kate Middleton in 2011 is made of Welsh gold, and the couple lived on the isle of Anglesey off the northwest coast of Wales while William worked as a search-and-rescue helicopter pilot.


MYDDFAI COTTAGES

(2 properties)

The Duchy of Cornwall owns two cottages on the Llwynywermod estate, housed in converted barns. Guests can expect to pay $1,000 for a weeklong stay at the smaller two-bedroom West Range cottage for the privilege of being William and Kate’s neighbor.


OGMORE CASTLE

The oval-shaped ruins of Ogmore Castle feature a twelfth-century stone keep and date to 1116, when the castle was founded by the Norman de Londres family.

 

ROMANIA

THE PRINCE OF WALES’S GUESTHOUSE

Est. value: $1.1 M

One of only two properties held by King Charles outside of the U.K., he purchased this private nature retreat and guesthouse in the rural Transylvanian village of Valea Zălanului—known locally by its Hungarian moniker Zalánpatak—through Ecologic Transilvania SRL, a Romanian subsidiary of the Prince of Wales’s Charitable Fund. Visitors can go horse riding at the property’s stables or take advantage of a wood-fired “salty hot-tub” and a mineral water pool in the summer, or horse-drawn sleigh rides with mulled wine in the winter.


THE PRINCE OF WALES’S HOUSE

Est. value: $1.1 M

Located a two-hour drive west of Valea Zălanului in the town of Viscri, Charles’s second Romanian property is a bed and breakfast that doubles as a traditional crafts and training center housed in an 18th-century Saxon home. Beyond these two homes, Charles has another, centuries-old link to Transylvania: he is a distant relative of Vlad the Impaler, who ruled what is now Romania in the 15th century and served as the inspiration for Bram Stoker’s Dracula.

SCOTLAND

BALMORAL CASTLE

Est. Value: $118 M

Queen Elizabeth II’s favorite residence, she spent her final days at Balmoral before she died on September 8 at age 96. Purchased by Prince Albert for his wife, Queen Victoria, in 1852 for £32,000 ($3.9 million today,) the castle was built in the Scottish Baronial style out of local white granite. The 50,000-acre estate includes a golf course, woodlands, a bridge across the river Dee designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel and an obelisk commemorating Prince Albert. Along with Sandringham, it’s one of two properties personally owned by King Charles, which he inherited from the Queen.


PALACE OF HOLYROODHOUSE

Est. Value: $83 M

The official residence of the monarchy in Scotland, Holyroodhouse sits on one end of Edinburgh’s Royal Mile, which connects the palace to Edinburgh Castle. Founded by King David I of Scotland as an Augustinian monastery in 1128—a structure that’s still intact today as Holyrood Abbey—James IV built a palace on the grounds in 1501, and later residents included Mary, Queen of Scots. (A box containing her hair is on display in her former chambers.) The palace rooms feature treasures from the Royal Collection, including the Darnley Jewel, a heart-shaped gold locket studded with Burmese rubies and Indian emerald.


DUMFRIES HOUSE

Est. Value: $46 M

Set on 2,000 acres of land in rural Ayrshire in southwestern Scotland, Dumfries House is a Palladian, 18th-century mansion purchased by Charles in 2007 for £45 million (or $77 million today) through a trust. Built in 1759 by William Chrichton-Dalrymple, the Earl of Dumfries, and designed by the architect Robert Adam and his two brothers, the home is known for retaining its original 18th-century furniture from the workshop of Thomas Chippendale. Now in the hands of the Prince’s Foundation, a charity Charles set up in 1986, Dumfries House is open to visitors and is also used for training young people in traditional skills and crafts.


CASTLE OF MEY

Est. Value: $15 M

Built in 1567 by George, the Earl of Caithness on the northeastern coast of Scotland, the Castle of Mey features a grand entrance and dining room designed by William Burn in 1819. It fell into disrepair in the 20th century until it was purchased by the Queen Elizabeth’s mother in 1952, who renovated the castle and its 30 acres of gardens and parklands and restored the property’s original name. The Queen Mother handed the castle over to a trust in 1996, which now forms part of The Prince’s Foundation.

 

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Real eState

Recreational homes: What to know about inheriting a cottage – CTV News

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With a high number of Canadians expected to retire over the next few years, the trend of younger generations inheriting their family cottages will contribute to “major shifts” in the ownership of recreational homes, according to new research from Re/Max.

But amid rising concerns around the cost of housing, some may be wondering whether they can afford to keep their recreational home in the family.

In its 2023 Cottage Trends Report released April 27, Re/Max says Generation X is already driving the recreational housing market, partly due to the high volume of intergenerational wealth transfers. Additionally, data released by TD Bank Group earlier this year shows nearly 900,000 baby boomers are set to retire within the next three years.

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According to Christopher Alexander, president of Re/Max Canada, many more families are likely to pass their cottages down to loved ones in the years to come.

“The torch has kind of been passed from baby boomers to gen-Xers, who are driving market activity right now,” Alexander told CTVNews.ca in a telephone interview on Wednesday. “[Gen Xers] are also buying cottages with the intention to pass it on to their children [and] have it as a family heirloom.”

A Leger survey commissioned on behalf of Re/Max as part of its trends report shows 56 per cent of Canadians either plan to or have already put their recreational property in their beneficiary’s name. Additionally, 74 per cent of those who own recreational properties say they feel confident they will be able to pass down their property to relatives with the proper planning.

While many Canadians appear confident in their ability to do this, a key factor to take into consideration is whether their children can afford to keep the home, said Jamie Golombek, managing director of tax and estate planning with CIBC in Toronto.

Amid a cost-of-living crisis, home affordability remains a concern for many. Canada has the highest level of household debt in the G7, a volume that has been growing “inexorably” because of rising home prices, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.

It’s not uncommon for families to sell a cottage to absolve themselves of ownership, Alexander said. More often than not, this isn’t because relatives have lost interest in owning the home, but because of the hurdles they confront while trying to keep it, said Peter Lillico, a lawyer with Lillico Bazuk Galloway Halka based in Peterborough, Ont.

“Parents make assumptions like, ‘the kids love the cottage and they get along, therefore there’s a cottage succession plan,’ and it’s just not,” he told CTVNews.ca in a telephone interview Thursday. “One of the main reasons that those cottages go up for sale after decades is you’ve got three kids and one of them says, ‘I can’t afford it.’”

Looking specifically at the recreational housing market, average prices remain above pre-pandemic levels today, Alexander said. Combined with elevated interest rates, “the ability to carry two properties has been more challenging in the last year,” he said.

ARE THERE TAXES INVOLVED IN INHERITING A COTTAGE?

In addition to keeping up with property taxes and mortgage costs, families will need to factor in a capital gains tax when transferring ownership of their cottage, said Lillico.

Whether parents are selling their recreational home to their children or giving it as a gift, the transfer is still considered a “disposition” by the Canada Revenue Agency, or a sale at fair market value, Lillico said. This will trigger a capital gains tax, which is a federal levy that accounts for the increase in a home’s value since it was last purchased.

In Canada, 50 per cent of the capital gain from a sale must be added to the seller’s total taxable income. The amount they will pay is based on their tax bracket. If the homeowners die before transferring ownership, this tax can be paid using money from their estate, Lillico said.

A principal residence tax exemption can allow homeowners to avoid paying a capital gains tax on profits made from selling a property if it’s their main residence. But any profit generated up until the home is designated a principal residence is still taxable, said Lillico, who has more than 44 years of experience in cottage succession planning.

“The cottage may qualify as their principal residence from that point forward, but it doesn’t wipe out capital gains [from previous years],” he told CTVNews.ca. “Sometimes that will catch people by surprise.”

One way to temporarily avoid paying capital gains taxes is to place the home in a “sprinkling” cottage trust, Lillico said, a type of asset protection trust. This will allow the next generation to transfer the recreational property to their children without paying a capital gains tax for up to 21 years. Placing the property in this kind of trust will also protect the owners from third-party claims if someone were to get divorced or go bankrupt.

Being mindful of insurance fees and other costs involved in maintaining the home will help families make an informed decision on whether the next generation can afford to keep the property, or if they should sell it, Alexander said.

Golombek also recommends speaking with financial advisers to determine the tax consequences of inheriting a family cottage, as well as whether a person’s income and expenses will allow them to afford to keep it.

FAMILY DYNAMICS ANOTHER IMPORTANT CONSIDERATION: EXPERTS

In addition to finances, it’s important that parents speak with their children about whether they want to inherit the recreational home in the first place, said Golombek.

“Especially if there’s multiple kids … it’s very important to have that discussion,” he told CTVNews.ca in a telephone interview Thursday. “If they don’t all want it, then you can create a lot of issues there by leaving it to them equally.”

Lillico recommends creating a legally enforceable cottage sharing agreement for those who will inherit the property before it is passed down. In writing, family members should lay out terms around access to the property, the sharing of expenses and any restrictions on transferring the home to those outside the family. He also suggests setting money aside, if possible, to cover repair costs down the road.

THE STATE OF CANADA’S RECREATIONAL REAL ESTATE MARKET

Most of Canada has seen a rise in the supply of recreational homes, aside from some outliers in Ontario and British Columbia, where prices are “exorbitant,” Alexander said.

Areas such as Muskoka and Prince Edward County in Ontario have seen property values go through the roof over the last few years, leading many recreational homeowners in these regions to see high capital gains over time, he said. As these markets remain hot, peripheral regions such as those further north in the province have become more attractive as cheaper alternatives.

“Within three hours of a major city, as long as the demand is there … you’re going to see property values increase and then you’ll have higher capital gains,” Alexander said.

CTVNews.ca has put together a list of recreational properties currently on the market across Canada.

BRITISH COLUMBIA

(Hayden Simon, Century 21 Creekside Realty)

Location: Harrison Hot Springs, B.C.

Price: $599,000

Year Built: 2002

Property Size: 189.52 sq. m

Lot Size: 0.33 hectares

Situated on the shores of Harrison Lake, this leasehold property is a two-hour drive from Vancouver. With nearly 190 square metres of living space, it includes five bedrooms and two bathrooms. The home also features a wood stove in the living area and a wood-burning hot tub in the backyard.

ALBERTA

(Ryan Sagert, 1.m.A Media / Cathren Dorchester, Royal LePage Parkland Agencies)

Location: Rural Wetaskiwin County, Alta.

Price: $759,000

Year Built: 1980

Property Size: 78.42 sq. m

Lot Size: 0.08 hectares

This lakefront home has four bedrooms and two bathrooms, in addition to a kitchen, living room and fully finished basement. The lower level comes with heated floors and offers outdoor access. In the backyard is a fire pit, along with a stone walkway that leads to Pigeon Lake.

ONTARIO

(Big Bay Media / Erin Monett, Chestnut Park Real Estate)

Location: Muskoka, Ont.

Price: $1,199,999

Year Built: 1976

Property Size: 165.55 sq. m

Lot Size: 1.31 hectares

Two separate docks lead the way to this four-bedroom, two-bathroom home in Muskoka, Ont. The property includes nearly 314 metres of shoreline along Green Bay, and 1.31 hectares of land. Large windows in the dining area provide a clear view of the waterfront. In addition to the cottage, a seasonal log cabin is also situated on the property.

(Carol Love, Century 21 Lanthorn Real Estate)

Location: Prince Edward County, Ont.

Price: $949,000

Year Built: 1981

Property Size: 130.06 sq. m

Lot Size: 1.09 hectares

Located in Prince Edward County, Ont., this waterfront bungalow offers views of Consecon Lake. Inside the home are four bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living room, kitchen and recreation room. In the backyard is a screened porch and deck facing the water, which can be accessed via a private boardwalk. This recreational home is located near Millennium Trail as well as shops, wineries and more.

NOVA SCOTIA

(Christopher Green / Joel Flewelling, Royal LePage Atlantic)

Location: Annapolis County, N.S.

Price: $399,000

Year Built: 1882

Property Size: 118.73 sq. m

Lot Size: 0.25 hectares

This two-storey home has two bedrooms, two bathrooms and nearly 120 square metres of living space. On the main floor is a combined living and dining area with a wood-burning stove, as well as a sunroom. On the upper floor, both bedrooms share a full bathroom, which includes a shower.

PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND

(Odyssey Virtual / Jodi Bernard, Century 21 Northumberland Realty)

Location: Queens County, P.E.I.

Price: $499,000

Year Built: 2019

Property Size: 142.7 sq. m

Lot Size: 0.4 to 1.2 hectares

Situated on top of a hill, this cottage in central P.E.I. offers panoramic views stretching from Sea View to Park Corner. It features two bedrooms and two bathrooms, along with a kitchen and combined living and dining area. At the back of the home is a covered deck that is partially screened-in.

NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR

(Krista Trask, Century 21 Seller’s Choice)

Location: Whitbourne, N.L.

Price: $449,900

Year Built: 2020

Property Size: 228.91 sq. m

Lot Size: under 0.4 hectares

Modern finishes can be found throughout this home in Whitbourne, N.L. The open-concept layout of the main floor includes vaulted ceilings and chalet windows. Also on the main level is a gourmet kitchen with an island that can seat three people. The main bedroom has a private patio door with access to the front deck, as well as three-piece ensuite.

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Real eState

Victoria real estate sales up and prices down year-over-year – Times Colonist

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Real estate prices picked up slightly in May from April, but remain below levels seen a year ago in the capital region.

The number of properties that changed hands climbed by 22 per cent in May from the previous month, indicating increased consumer confidence, Victoria Real Estate Board chair Graden Sol said Thursday, when monthly data was released.

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May saw the highest number of sales since April of last year, he said.

While sale numbers lag below what would typically be expected in a spring market, May was the fourth consecutive month with sales higher than the previous month’s.

A total of 775 properties, valued at $774.9 million, sold through the board last month.

That represents an increase of 1.8 per cent from May 2022 and 21.7 per cent from April of this year, the board said.

The benchmark price for a single-family house in Victoria’s core was $1.297 million last month, a drop from $1.4 million in the same month a year ago.

Last month’s benchmark price was $1.295.8 million.

The benchmark price for condominiums in Victoria’s core slid to $569,300 in May from $619,500 a year earlier, although it was up slightly from April, when it was $564,000.

A total of 2,189 properties were for sale at the end of May, up 7.1 per cent from April, and up 23.3 per cent from the end of May last year.

cjwilson@timescolonist.com

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Calgary home sales reach new May record, new listings down: real estate board – The Globe and Mail

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The Calgary Real Estate Board says the market hit a new May record for sales as the number of properties that changed hands reached 3,120 last month.

The Albertan board says the sales amount to an almost two per cent increase from last May, when sales totalled 3,063.

Despite the record, year-to-date sales are still almost 30 per cent behind where they were last May and the board says the market has still not shifted completely away from the declines seen at the start of the year.

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The board says it continues to see fewer new listings than last year, with the number of properties listed on the market last month dropping 15 per cent to 3,652.

The market’s benchmark price was up almost three per cent at $557,000, while the average price pushed up roughly six per cent to $551,853.

The board’s chief economist says the numbers reflect a higher interest rate environment and recent rental rate gains, which are driving more people to seek apartment and condo units.

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