Private Residence Relief if Working Abroad and renting your Main Home whilst away.

I own my own home in the UK and may be working abroad soon possibly for a number of years. Whilst I'm working abroad can I rent out my UK home without making myself liable to pay capital gains tax if I decide after my return to the UK to sell my house in the future?

Hi,

You would only qualify if the job abroad provided job related accomadation. Further guidance is at:

HS283 Private Residence Relief (2023)

Thank you.

Hi HMRC Admin 32, thank you for your quick response. What qualifies as 'job-related accommodation'? As an example, if I got a job in UAE and found an apartment there to rent for the duration of my employment period would that qualify, or would the apartment need to be provided by the employer? I look forward to hearing from you, kind regards 

Name removed admin  .

Hi Chris Pain,

It needs to be accomadation provided by the employer.

Thank you.

I believe the reply above is wrong but am interested to hear feedback. I believe yYou would qualify for relief based on "S223(3)(b) TCGA92 - Office/employment outside UK" For this the accomodation does not need to be provided by the employer (https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/capital-gains-manual/cg65040) Furthermore - Use of residence during period of absence (https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/capital-gains-manual/cg65050) It does not matter how the residence is used during a qualifying period of absence. For example, it may be let without any loss of relief.

Hi, I have a similar concern. While working overseas we rent the house out. However we come back and forth and live in the house for actual periods of occupation. On the months/years it is rented out while we are abroad working can we still claim for PPR on the actual periods of occupation or because we are renting it out can we not qualify at all. Thank you.

Hi,

If you are abroad as a result of your employment, you can rent out your property and still count it towards private residence relief. 

You can find further guidance here:

Tax when you sell your home
HS283 Private Residence Relief (2023)
CG64200C - Capital Gains Manual: Reliefs: Private residence relief: contents

Thank you.

Thank you. On the occasion where the accommodation is not provided by employer but still overseas because of employment. Do i qualify at all for PPR or only partially for the actual periods of occupation.

Hi,

You can see guidance here:

HS283 Private Residence Relief (2024)

Thank you.

Hi, I bought my dwelling in the Netherlands in 2017. I lived there for a year until I started working in the UK in 2018 for a UK based employer who demanded I reside in the UK. I am still in that job and have been living in the UK for 6 years but have not bought any property. Meanwhile my flat in the Netherlands was rented because my employer demands me to reside in the UK. I now want to sell the property. Will I qualify for private residence relief on the sale of foreign property?

Hi Jamie Rooney.
You will need to work out if there is tax payable on that disposal, using UK capital gains rules.
There is a capital gains calculator here:
Tax when you sell your home
To help you with this.
All of the values should be declared in pounds sterling, so you will need to convert the Euro to sterling.
Under the terms of Self Assessment, we do not provide an official exchange rate and the onus is on the individual to use a just and reasonable exchange rate for each acquisition and disposal.
For your convenience, there are exchange rates here:
Exchange rates from HMRC in CSV and XML format
You are free to use any of the supplied rates or one of your own choosing.
You will also be able to claim Private Residence Relief for the period that the property was your main residence. 
HS283 Private Residence Relief (2024)