Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992 section 223

Amount of relief

Section 223 determines how much private residence relief applies when an individual disposes of a dwelling-house, including rules for full exemption, partial exemption based on periods of occupation, and the treatment of certain absences from the property.

• If the property has been the individual's only or main residence throughout the entire period of ownership (or all but the last 9 months), the whole gain is exempt from capital gains tax.
• Where the property was only the main residence for part of the ownership period, a proportionate fraction of the gain is exempt, calculated by dividing the period of residence (plus the final 9 months in any event) by the total period of ownership.
• Certain periods of absence — up to 3 years for any reason, unlimited periods for overseas employment, and up to 4 years where the individual's workplace or employer conditions prevent them from living in the property — can be treated as periods of residence, provided the individual lived in the property both before and (broadly) after the absence.
• The period of ownership excludes any time before 31 March 1982 and, for certain non-resident CGT disposals, any time before 6 April 2015, unless the individual has elected for the retrospective basis of computation.