PPR relief and second homes

If you were intending to dispose of second home, it would make sense to elect for this (lets call it property 2) to be your main residence before varying the notice in favour of your other residence (lets call this one Property 1), and electing this as your PPR. Therefore, by electing property 2 as the PPR for only a few weeks, you would obtain the last 3 years deemed occupation, and therefore, full or significant PPR relief. Provided you varied the election in favour of property 1 you would then lose only minimal relief on property 1. As well as qualifying for PPR relief if a property has been let in the past and also has been a main residence at some point, lettings relief may be due to reduce any remaining gain even further. Broadly speaking the gain after PPR relief is reduced by the lower of: The gain attributable to the letting £40,000 The amount of PPR relief. Therefore making a let property a main residence for a period can be very advantageous in terms of reducing CGT, particularly where there is a relatively short ownership period (as the last 36 months deemed occupation would then exempt more of the gain). It's also worth noting that in terms of the tax return, if any gain is completely covered by PPR relief, there is no requirement to enter this on a tax return. Therefore the PPR election can be a useful option for anyone who owns a second home and is looking to avoid or minimise capital gains tax on a future disposal. You'd need to be careful though that if the second home was elected as a main residence for anything above a nominal period this would result in a loss of relief on the other 'main' property when you sell it in the future.