I am residing in a house owned by a trust. I wish to sell a property I own that is tenanted until July 2024. This is the only property I own. Can I nominate it as my address for principal private residence (PPR) relief purposes when it becomes vacant and obviate the need to pay capital gains tax? Is PPR relief immediate, or do I have to wait a period before it applies?  

Arthur Weller replies:  

You cannot nominate the tenanted house as your principal private residence because you do not actually live in it. See HMRC’s Capital Gains Manual at CG64465. Even if you have lived in it for part of your period of ownership, you can only get relief for the period you actually lived in it (plus the final period exemption). So, if you have owned it for (say) ten years and lived in it for the first five years, then rented it out for the next five years, you can get relief for the first five years plus the last nine months. In this example, it equates to 57.5% relief.