Is CGT required?

I purchased my home in January 2021 and lived there for some time. The distance from my workplace, however, prevented me living there. As such, I moved to my son’s house. I rented out my house in the following two years.  My tenant moved out in September 2023 and the property was then unoccupied for a year before I sold it. Since my son is going to sell his house, I need to move elsewhere. Due to the distance from my workplace, I was unable to move back in my property. Therefore, I sold my property in early August this year and later purchased a new property, which is closer to my workplace, to be my residence.     Could you please advise if I need to pay the capital gain tax given the following circumstances : - 1. I only purchased a new property after selling my previous one. That means I only have one property at any one time. 2. I only have one residence at the same time. 3. I sold my property in view of the distance from my workplace but not aiming at gaining any profit. 4. The purchase cost of my new property was even higher than the selling price of my previous one. No gain is therefore incurred. 5. For the rental income of my previous property, I had submitted the self assessment return and paid the tax accordingly. Thank you.

May I have the reply from HMRC please?

Hi JWL,
It is possible that a gain is due as you did not live in the house as your main residence for the whole period of ownership.
You chose to move away for work and then did not return to the property prior to selling.
The cost of the new house is irrelevant as it is the differnce in price on the property that has been sold determines whether a gain has arose or not. Please refer to guidance here:
Capital Gains Tax: what you pay it on, rates and allowances.
Thank you.