Don't do it! We did and it was so much hassle. We lived in our house for 10 years and paid off the mortgage. We then moved to a bigger house and placed the trading up mortgage on our previous house to let it out. We recieved tax advice before hand and were advised that I should sell my half of the house to my spouse who could then claim tax relief on the interest. We did this and all went well until I read an article in a Sunday newspaper stating that this practice was not condoned by Revenue. They got a Finance Bill passed in 2002 to prevent this practice and they back dated it to capture anyone who did this in the past. We got an accountant to check it out and he confirmed the new rule and advised us to sell up. We sold because as well as losing that relief, the capital gains tax was costing a fortune because it is based on ppr years over rental years, therefore, even if the value of the house never increased, the cgt was increasing for every month that we kept it. By the way we called into Revenue to ask about it, but the tax clerk hadn't a clue what we were asking so we went to an accountant instead. Therefore, it is important to seek professional advice.