Selling a house

When you sell a house, you may have to pay Capital Gains Tax (CGT) on the proceeds of the sale. If that house is your only or main home, you may be able to claim Principal Private Residence (PPR) Relief. With PPR Relief, you will not have to pay any CGT on the sale. 

If the house has a garden of up to one acre (0.405 hectares), this land can also be considered as part of your home for PPR Relief. The relief does not apply to any land over this size. 


You must still send a tax return for the sale, even where PPR Relief means that you do not have to pay CGT.

Restrictions on PPR Relief

If you have let or used the house (or part of the house) for business purposes, PPR Relief may be restricted.

You may not receive the full relief if only part of the house has been used solely as your home. In this case, you will only be entitled to PPR Relief on that part of the house. You will have to pay CGT on the remaining part. If you have let a room under the Rent a Room Relief scheme that will not affect your PPR Relief.

If your property has development value, PPR Relief may be restricted. This is where your property has a higher potential value than the value it has based on how you currently use it. If this is the case, you can only claim PPR Relief on the value it would have if the property had no development value.

If you have not lived in the house as your only or main home for all the time that you have owned it, PPR Relief may also be restricted. However, you will be regarded as having lived in the house for the last 12 months that you have owned it for the purpose of PPR Relief. This is to allow for the situation where you have moved into a new home, but are still trying to sell your previous home.