Cgt

Victorias_2

Bought property 20 years ago as a BTL. There is no mortgage on property.
My wife and I are seperating and I will move into my BTL property. How long do I need to live there as my main and only residence to reduce or wipe out CGT.
The property is in my name only.

fengirl_2

There will always be a CGT liability on the property as you have not lived in it throughout the period of ownership, although only the 20 years of letting will be chargeable.

Rolo_Tomasi

You will always have to do a cgt calculation. This will look at the total increase in value over your period of ownership however the period when it was your residence, along with the last 3 years will be exempt. For example, if you owned the property for 25 years, lived in it for the final 5 years and it increased in value by £100,000 over your total period of ownership then your gain would be:

£100,000 - (8/25 x 100,000) = £68,000.

You would also get letting relief up to a maximum of £40k which would further reduce the gain.