From memory, which may not be 100% accurate now, there was a time you could move into a property for 6 months and then sell without any CGT. But those days are long gone.

Nowadays HMRC will apply CGT to a property proportional to all the years it was let, ( and I think empty before sale or between lets). I no longer recall the details of the calculation, nor do I recall how they deal with times of property value drop and rise within the period of letting as opposed to the whole span of ownership.

To be certain, I'd suggest you discuss with an accountant who knows this area, if that's outside your budget, then HMRC are actually quite helpful on the subject.

Hello, from my experience with a similar situation - capital gains is calculated over the whole span of ownership and the HMRC will have your tax returns from rental income for the period you rented it for so they will have a clear picture of the situation. The Residence relief will apply for the periods you lived in the property (and I think the last 9 months of ownership) - again as a percentage of the overall. There are many deductibles - including purchase costs such as solicitors fees etc and for any major building works added to the property and the costs of selling the property. I don’t think moving back into the property will give you any advantage at all as it will be such a small percentage of overall additional time. If you have a buyer I would just go ahead and do the deal asap. However I am NOT a professional! So please get a professional option. Good luck!

I would say it is hardly worth bothering about. You have said that you may only be there for 3 months, that is nothing compared to the nearly 13 Years it has been let.

Well worth moving back in. Any money is better in your pocket than the Treasury's.
Legally as soon as it's your main residence. I believe, but practically would be 6-12 months. But it may well take that time to get a buyer and complete on the conveyance.
CGT allowance drops to £3k next April. Then likely to be gone altogether, but nothings been said by any political party.

Speak to an accountant who specialises in PPR.

You used to get the last 3 years in PPR relief, provided you genuinely moved back in and re-established a property as your real home. People used to go through all sorts of contortions to get the 3 years but HMRC challenged length and quality of stay. There are now numerous Tribunal cases where 3 or 6 months was really not good enough, *especially* if you already have a buyer lined up!

" How can you claim, Mr and Mrs X, that you were re-establishing the flat as your new home, when Dr Y had already agreed to buy it?"

Get professional advice, but for your final 9 months of PPR relief + the time you live there I'd say you need to live there for at least a year, have a cast-iron reason for moving, change your GP, your dentist, all your utility bills and have receipts proving a normal pattern of daily living. Then it might be worth doing, but do you want to disrupt your life that much?

Search HS283 for the details and help to work it out.

You dont need to move back in. Of the 25 years of ownership, 12.5 that you lived in it you will get relief plus last 9 months of ownership. For sake of simplicity let's round down to 50%, therefore your capital gains liability above the threshold is reduced by 50%. If you move back in then sure, the longer you are in there will be added as percentage of how long you occupied it for and therefore have reduction in tax but you will have to decide for yourself what works out better for you personally

Thank you everyone for your input. I had been ploughing through HS283 and I had come to the same conclusion as Mitesh Gosai above (Thanks, Mitesh!) but I wondered if there were any Property 118 readers in the same situation who had actually been through the process themselves recently and could confirm it from experience. Thank you Emma Greenburg for that. I am a bit of a cheapskate so I will now follow Tim Rogers advice and ask HMRC directly if they will confirm the advice so kindly given here and report back to you all. I have in the meantime found confirmation that the correct address to write to is "Self Assessment, HM Revenue and Customs, BX9 1AS"