Private Residence Relief Calculator
Work out how much of the gain on a home you have not always lived in is tax-free: days lived in, final 9 months, absences and lettings relief.
If the home was your only or main residence for the whole time you owned it, none of the gain is taxable (TCGA 1992 s.223(1)). If it was not, the tax-free share is the time it was your main home, plus the last 9 months of ownership, plus any allowed absences, divided by the whole time you owned it (s.223(2)). The rest is a chargeable gain. If you lived there while letting part of it, lettings relief can cover up to £40,000 more. Enter your dates below: the calculator counts every day.
Enter your dates and press Work out.
How the tax-free fraction is worked out
- The home must have been your only or main residence at some time. If it never was, there is no relief at all, not even for the final months (s.222(1)). If you had two homes at once, you can choose which is your main residence by telling HMRC within 2 years of the start of that combination of homes (s.222(5)); otherwise it is decided on the facts. A married couple or civil partners living together can have only one main residence between them (s.222(6)).
- The fraction is the time it was your main home, including the last 9 months "in any event", divided by the period of ownership (s.223(2)). A day of living there inside the final months is counted once, not twice (CG64990). The value of the home when you moved in or out does not matter: the gain is split by time (HS283).
- Ownership before 31 March 1982 does not count: the period starts on 31 March 1982 (s.223(7)(a); CG64940). Living there before that date still means the home qualifies for the final period (CG64943).
- The final period is 9 months for disposals from 6 April 2020, or 36 months where s.225E applies (CG64985, CG64986). s.225E applies if, at the date of the sale, either (a) you are a disabled person (as defined in Schedule 1A to the Finance Act 2005) or a long-term care home resident (there for at least three months, actual or expected) and you have no other "relevant right" in a private residence, or (b) your spouse or civil partner is, and neither of you has one. A relevant right means owning an interest in another home, or being entitled under a trust to occupy one, that could qualify for the relief (s.225E).
- How we count months. The final period starts on the same-numbered day 9 months before the day after completion, so a sale completing on 30 November starts it on 1 March. Where that day does not exist (a "31 April"), we start on the 1st of the next month rather than the last day of the month before. The Act does not say which; the difference is one day.
Time away that still counts as living there
s.223(3) treats these absences as time you lived in the home. It does not matter how the home was used meanwhile; it can be let (CG65050).
| Reason (s.223(3)) | Limit | Need to move back afterwards? |
|---|---|---|
| (a) Any reason | 3 years in total | Yes |
| (b) You, or the spouse or civil partner you lived with, worked in an employment or office all of whose duties were performed outside the UK (self-employment does not count) | None | Yes, unless work then stopped you returning |
| (c) Where you worked, or a reasonable condition of your employer, meant you could not live there | 4 years in total | Yes, unless work then stopped you returning |
| (d) You lived with a spouse or civil partner to whom (c) applied | 4 years in total | Yes, unless work then stopped you returning |
- Condition A: at some time before the absence, the home was your only or main residence (s.223(3A)). Condition B: at some time after it, it was again, or for (b), (c) and (d), your job (or your spouse or civil partner's) required you to live elsewhere so you could not move back (s.223(3B)). The final period does not count as living there afterwards: you must actually move back (CG65050, CG65067).
- Heads add together and HMRC applies them in the way that is best for you: a 5-year work posting can be 4 years under (c) and 1 year under (a). An absence longer than a limit is relieved up to the limit (CG65030, CG65065, CG65066). The calculator does this, and spends no allowance on days the final period covers anyway.
- We count days. 3 years is 1,095 days and 4 years 1,460. A 29 February never uses any of the limit: it is relieved if some of the limit is left or the day before it was relieved. So an unbroken absence of exactly 3 calendar years always fits.
- Another home while you are away. If you own or rent another residence during the absence, you may need to nominate the home you are away from as your main residence for the absence to count (CG65047).
- Job-related accommodation (for example a home you must live in for your job): a home you own and intend to live in is treated as occupied by you while you live in job-related accommodation (s.222(8), HS283). The calculator does not model this.
- Delay moving in. If you move in within 24 months of buying, nobody else lived there first, and before you moved in the building, renovation, redecoration or alteration was finished or you sold your previous main home, the time before you moved in counts as residence (s.223ZA, CG65000). Tick the box in the calculator.
Lettings relief: only if you lived there too
For disposals from 6 April 2020, lettings relief applies only to a period when part of the home was your only or main residence and another part was let out by you as residential accommodation (s.223B(2)). It is not available for any period when the whole home was let (CG64710). The relief is the lowest of:
- the Private Residence Relief you get;
- £40,000 (s.223B(4)(b));
- the part of the gain that is chargeable because of the letting.
Each owner has their own limit: joint owners each work it out on their share (CG64738). A part that was let for the whole time you owned it was never your residence, so it gets no final period (CG64736, HS283 example 8). A single lodger who lives as one of the family does not restrict the relief at all (CG64702). The calculator does not apply the absence rules to a part while it is let.
Worked examples
Lived there 6 years, then let the whole home
Bought 1 June 2014, lived there until 31 May 2020, then let it and never moved back; sale completed 31 May 2026 with a £150,000 gain. Owned 4,383 days; lived there 2,192, plus 273 days of the final 9 months. The 6 years away do not count: there was no moving back, so Condition B fails, and letting the whole home gets no lettings relief. Relief 56.24%, £84,360; chargeable gain £65,640. With £40,000 of other income, the 2026/27 CGT would be £14,417.39 (£10,270 at 18% and £52,370 at 24%, after the £3,000 exempt amount).
Four years away, then back
Bought 1 September 2012, lived there 5 years, away 4 years (1 September 2017 to 31 August 2021) for a reason that is not work, then back until the sale on 31 August 2026; £120,000 gain. 3 years of the absence count under (a); 365 days do not. Chargeable gain £8,566. If the 4 years had been an employer's posting that stopped them living there, head (c) covers all 4 years and the chargeable gain is £0.
Living in the home and letting a third of it
Bought 1 January 2016 and lived in all of it for 5 years; from 1 January 2021 let a self-contained third to a tenant while living in the rest; sale completed 31 December 2026 with a £240,000 gain. The two-thirds lived in throughout is fully exempt. The let third was once lived in, so it gets the final 9 months; it is exempt for 52.31% of the time. Private Residence Relief £201,852; gain due to the letting £38,148; lettings relief £38,148 (the whole gain due to letting). Chargeable gain £0.
Each figure is computed by the calculator above. HMRC's own examples count months; the calculator counts days, so its fractions can differ slightly from a month count.
Homes from a spouse, inherited homes and separation
- From your spouse or civil partner while you were living together, by sale, gift or on their death, on or after 6 April 2020: your period of ownership starts when theirs did, and time it was their only or main residence counts as yours (s.222(7)(a), (b); Finance Act 2020 s.24(10)). For a transfer or death before 6 April 2020, this applied only if the home was your only or main residence at the time (CG64925). Where it applies, enter their purchase date and the periods it was their main home. Your base cost is a separate question: a lifetime transfer between spouses living together is at no gain and no loss (s.58(1B)), so you take over their cost, and on death you take the home at its market value at the date of death (s.62). This works both ways: years when it was not their main home count against you. The calculator applies the absence rules to the combined history; HMRC's guidance does not cover absences during your spouse's ownership, so check those with an adviser.
- Inherited from anyone else: your ownership starts at the date of death and your cost is normally the market value at that date (s.62). Time before you moved in counts against you (CG64925). See also tax on selling inherited property.
- Separation or divorce: if you moved out and later sell the home to someone other than your spouse or civil partner under a separation or divorce agreement or court order, it can be treated as your main residence until the sale, as long as it stayed your spouse's main residence and you have not nominated another home (s.225B). This is a claim; the calculator does not apply it automatically. Enter the period as lived in only if s.225B applies to you.
What the calculator does not cover
- Non-residents and homes abroad. From 2015/16 a home is treated as not occupied by you in a tax year when neither you nor your spouse or civil partner was resident in the country where it is, unless you spent at least 90 days (pro rata for a part year) in homes there that you or your spouse or civil partner have an interest in (s.222B, s.222C). For a non-resident selling UK property, time before 6 April 2015 can also drop out (s.223(7)(b), s.223A). In a non-qualifying year the absence rules still apply (s.222B(11)(b)), so the calculator accepts such years if you enter them as time away; it stops if the home is abroad or you are not UK resident in the tax year of the sale.
- Garden or grounds over half a hectare. Relief covers garden and grounds up to 0.5 hectare including the site of the house, or a larger area if it is required for the reasonable enjoyment of the house given its size and character (s.222(2), (3)). Land sold after the house gets no relief (HS283).
- Part used only for business: the gain on that part gets no relief (s.224(1)). A room you also use for non-business purposes does not count (HS283).
- Bought to make a gain, or spending to make a gain: no relief on that gain (s.224(3)).
- Hold-over relief under TCGA 1992 s.260 claimed on an earlier disposal of the home: no relief (s.226A).
- Trusts and personal representatives (s.225, s.225A), and adult placement carers (s.225D).
- Disposals before 6 April 2020 (contracts exchanged before that date), which had an 18-month final period and wider lettings relief (CG64985, CG64710).
If some of the gain is chargeable
The chargeable gain goes with your other gains for the tax year. You can take off the £3,000 annual exempt amount, then pay 18% on the part that fits in your unused basic-rate band and 24% above it (gov.uk CGT rates). The tax year of the sale is the year contracts were exchanged (s.28), while ownership for this relief runs to completion. If CGT is due on UK residential property you must report and pay it within 60 days of completion (30 days for completions from 6 April 2020 to 26 October 2021) (gov.uk).
Frequently asked questions
How much of my gain is tax-free if I have not always lived in the home?
The tax-free fraction is the time the home was your only or main residence, plus the last 9 months of ownership if it was your main home at some point, plus any allowed absences, divided by the whole time you owned it (TCGA 1992 s.223(2)). Only time from 31 March 1982 counts. The rest of the gain is chargeable, less any lettings relief and your £3,000 annual exempt amount.
Do I always get the final 9 months tax-free?
Yes, if the home was your only or main residence at some time while you owned it, whatever you used it for in those months (s.223(2) says "in any event"). It is 36 months instead if, when you sell, either you are a disabled person or a long-term care home resident and you have no interest in another home that could qualify for the relief, or your spouse or civil partner is one and neither of you has such an interest (s.225E). A home you never lived in gets no final period.
Can I still claim lettings relief?
Only if you lived in the home while letting part of it to a tenant, for disposals from 6 April 2020 (TCGA 1992 s.223B). Letting the whole home after you moved out no longer qualifies. Lettings relief is the lowest of your Private Residence Relief, £40,000, and the gain that is chargeable because of the letting. Each owner has their own £40,000 limit.
Does time I spent living elsewhere count as living in the home?
Some does, under s.223(3): up to 3 years in total for any reason, any length of time in an employment or office with all its duties performed outside the UK (yours or your spouse or civil partner's), up to 4 years where your job meant you could not live there, and a separate 4 years where your spouse or civil partner's job did. In every case the home must have been your main residence at some time before the absence and, in most cases, again after it. A work absence also qualifies if your job then stopped you moving back.
Do I need to report the sale to HMRC if Private Residence Relief covers it?
UK residents need not report online if their total gains are under the tax-free allowance (gov.uk). If you are registered for Self Assessment, gov.uk says to report gains in your return if the total you sold assets for was over £50,000, but HS283 says you need not fill in the CGT pages if relief covers the whole gain and you made no other disposals. If CGT is due on UK residential property, report and pay within 60 days of completion (30 days for completions from 6 April 2020 to 26 October 2021). Non-residents must report every UK property disposal.
I got the home from my spouse or civil partner. Whose dates count?
If you were living together when it passed to you, by sale, gift or on their death, on or after 6 April 2020, your period of ownership starts when theirs did, and time it was their only or main residence counts as yours (TCGA 1992 s.222(7)). Before 6 April 2020 this applied only if the home was your only or main residence at the time of the transfer (HMRC CG64925). Your base cost is separate: a lifetime transfer between spouses living together is at no gain and no loss (s.58), and on death you take the home at its market value at the date of death (s.62).