Second Property / Capital Gains

silvercar

Jimmo on the "cutting tax" board is the expert on this.

If you own 2 homes and live partly in both (or at least both are available to you) then you can, within the first 2 years of being in the position of living in both, elect which one is to be considered as your PPR. At future points you can then make a new declaration as to which one is to be considered as you PPR. When you come to sell one, you would then make sure that it has been your PPR for some point in time, as that gives you PPR relief for the last 3 years of ownership, as well as the time it was your PPR, and lettings relief. It is a careful calculation because you could be losing PPR for your main home in saving on the second one.

You can only make the declaration when both properties are available to you. ie not when one of them is occupied by others or let.

The revenue would not investigate until a chargeable event occured ie the sale of one of the properties. Whether the revenue investigates or not is a risk you have to assess.