Primary property?

Owned and lived in a house for 16 years. Bought second house in 2021 as a holiday let/ second home. Didn't nominate a primary property. Does our initial house (which we've lived in all along) remain as primary property even if we haven't clarified that since buying the second property?

Hi Mavis,
You don't need to nominate the first house as the 2nd one was purchased as a holiday let and not intended to be your main residence -
CG64485 - Private residence relief: only or main residence: two or more residences: right of nomination.
Thank you.

Ok thanks. We are planning to eventually move into our second home and sell the primary home. At what point does the second home become the primary one if we cannot sell the first one? Is there an overlap grace period, or what determines when the change happens? If we then become eligible for Capital Gains tax on the original primary house, is it just for the period after we move out until we sell it? Thanks

Hi,

As you will have two properties, you will need to confirm in writing, the date on which you consider the second property to be your main residence. Please see the section 'only or main residence' in the guidance here:

 HS283 Private Residence Relief (2023) 

When calculating your Private Residence Rlief once you have disposed of the first property, you would add 9 months to the number of months the property was your main residence over the total number of months that you owned the property. This fraction is used to work out the available tax relief against any capital gain arising from the disposal. Please see the guidance above for more information.

Thank you.