Selling UK home if non-resident

You should consider selling your UK house before leaving the country, assuming that any gain is covered by Principal Private Residence relief and therefore escapes capital gains tax. If the house cannot be sold before departure, you should try not to return to the UK at all until after it has been disposed of and is no longer available for you to use. An alternative to selling the house is to let it. However, care needs to be taken with this -- depending on the circumstances, the taxman could argue that keeping property in the UK casts doubt on your intention to leave the country permanently. This is particularly dangerous where there is a short-term lease, for example under four years, as HMRC could then argue that possession would be obtained within three years of departure. In such circumstances it would be advisable to obtain any evidence that the short-term let was made for commercial reasons and that you intend to be overseas for at least four years. The Revenue can look to see if you have an 'ongoing connection' with the UK to see if the UK is still really your home. If it is, Revenue could class you as still UK resident. Therefore anything you can do to support the fact that you have a new home overseas (such as selling UK property and limiting UK visits) would be helpful.