The deal is the magazine giant's second sale since Marcus Rich was promoted to head of Emap Consumer Media in May last year. Dance music title Mixmag was offloaded to Development Hell in November.
Rich said that the magazine and website would have a "firmer future" after the sale. Its circulation is currently 55,337.
Period Living & Traditional Homes made a pre-tax profit of £370,000 in the year to March 31 2005 according to Centaur, which will pay Emap the £1.5m in cash, less the magazine's liabilities for unfulfilled subscriptions. The transaction is expected to complete on February 3.
Centaur's chairman and chief executive, Graham Sherren, said the magazine would complement Centaur's portfolio of specialist home-interest brands including Homebuilding & Renovating and the Period Living brand would be extended into other media.
The flagging home interest sector looks set for a shake-up with the entrance of Centaur and News International, which plans to launch a title, Inside Out, on March 16.
Four of the five top-selling titles were down in circulation over six months and year on year in the most recent set of ABC figures.
The category's heavyweights are IPC Media and The National Magazine Company. IPC owns market leader Ideal Home, selling 247,006 copies, and NatMags has the second-placed House Beautiful, selling 201,143 copies.
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