Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to review the recent reduction of Private Residence Relief to take into account (a) regional variations in the length of time it can take to sell a residence and (b) the complexity of divorce and separation in respect of selling a residence.

Within the Capital Gains Tax (CGT) system, private residence relief (PRR) exempts from CGT the gain a person may make when they sell a residential property that they have lived in as their main home.

In April, changes were made to reduce the final period exemption, in which a previous main residence always qualifies for CGT PRR, from 18 months to 9 months. The final period exemption is an ancillary relief intended to allow individuals who own another residence time to sell their property after they are no longer using their old main residence. This change was to target the relief better at owner occupiers and reduce the instances where people can accrue relief on two properties simultaneously.

The Government has no plans to change the length of the CGT Private Residence Relief (PRR) final period exemption.