The "36-month rule" usually means a Capital Gains Tax (CGT) relief for people selling a home they have moved out of. Private Residence Relief always covers the last part of the time you owned your home, and for sales before 6 April 2014 that final period was 36 months. For sales on or after 6 April 2020 it is 9 months. The full 36 months now applies only if, when you sell, you or your spouse or civil partner are disabled or a long-term care home resident, and neither of you has another home that could qualify for the relief.
Two other rules are also called "36 months": you can be away from your home for up to 3 years in total and still be treated as living there, provided you lived there before and after, and if you buy a new main home before selling your old one, you have 3 years to sell the old one and reclaim the extra Stamp Duty.
There is no UK rule that makes you pay CGT simply because you sell within 36 months of buying. What matters is how the property was used. If it has been your only or main home throughout, you normally pay no CGT however soon you sell. If it is a buy-to-let or second home, CGT can be due whether you sell after one year or twenty.
You pay no CGT when you sell your home if it is your only home, you lived in it as your main home for the whole time you owned it, you have not let part of it out (a lodger does not count) or used part of it exclusively for business, the grounds are under 5,000 square metres, and you did not buy it just to make a gain. Married couples and civil partners can only have one main home at a time. If you did not live there throughout, relief is proportional to the time it was your main home plus the periods that always qualify.
If a property was your only or main residence at some point while you owned it, the last part of your ownership always qualifies for relief, even if the property was let or empty by then. The length depends on when you sold:
You still get 36 months if, at the time of the sale, you are a disabled person or a long-term resident in a care home and have no other relevant right in a private residence, or if your spouse or civil partner is disabled or a long-term care home resident and neither of you has such a right.
"Disabled person" has a specific tax meaning. It covers people receiving Attendance Allowance, Personal Independence Payment, Disability Living Allowance at the highest or middle rate care component or higher rate mobility component, and certain other disability benefits, as well as people who cannot manage their affairs because of a mental disorder. A long-term care home resident is someone who has been in the home, or can reasonably be expected to be there, for at least three months. "Any other relevant right" broadly means an interest in another home, or a right to live in one held in trust, that could itself qualify for the relief.
Separately, some times when you were not living in your home can be treated as if you were:
The work rules also cover you if you lived with a spouse or civil partner in either work situation. You can let the home while you are away without losing this relief.
The property must have been your only or main residence at some time before the absence and again at some time after it. There is no set minimum stay, but it must genuinely be your home, not somewhere occupied for a temporary purpose, and the final 9 months do not count as moving back. Under the two work rules only, you do not have to return if your place of work, or a condition your employer reasonably imposed, prevented you (or your spouse or civil partner) from doing so.
If you have another residence while you are away, including one you rent on a tenancy, you may need to nominate your main home by writing to HMRC within 2 years of your combination of homes changing. Staying in someone else's home without a tenancy or ownership interest is ignored.
These examples are illustrative and use whole months for simplicity. Each owner has no other gains in the tax year, is a higher rate taxpayer and uses the £3,000 annual allowance.
Anne owns a flat for 120 months. She lives in it for 6 years, then moves out and lets the whole flat for 4 years before selling. Her gain after allowable costs is £100,000. The 4 years cannot count as an absence because she never moved back.
Ben owns a house for 120 months. He lives there for 3 years, stays with a parent for 3 years while it is let, moves back for 2 years, then moves out and sells 2 years later. His gain is £120,000.
Since 6 April 2020, letting relief only applies if you lived in the property at the same time as your tenant, for example by letting a room. It is not available for any period when the whole property was let, so neither Anne nor Ben gets it. Where it applies, it is the lowest of your Private Residence Relief, £40,000, or the gain from the letting.
For 2026 to 2027 the tax-free allowance is £3,000, and gains above it are taxed at 18% or 24% depending on your income. If you have CGT to pay on a UK residential property, you must report and pay it within 60 days of completion. Our guide to the tax you pay when selling a rental property explains how the gain, deductible costs and rates work.
This applies to Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT), paid in England and Northern Ireland; Scotland and Wales have their own taxes. If you buy a new main home before selling your old one, you will usually pay the higher rates, which are 5% on top of the standard rates. If you sell or give away your previous main home within 3 years of buying the new one, you can apply for a refund of the higher-rate part. As an illustration, on a £500,000 purchase standard SDLT is £15,000 and the higher rates come to £40,000, so £25,000 would be refundable.
The window also works the other way: if you sold your previous main home in the 3 years before buying and meet the other conditions, the higher rates do not apply even if you still own a buy-to-let. If you are thinking of buying first, see our guide on putting in an offer before selling your own home and see our independent mortgage advice page, which lists two independent brokers we recommend, about funding.
This article is general information, not tax advice. Speak to a tax adviser or accountant about your own circumstances.
It usually means the final period of ownership covered by Private Residence Relief after you move out. It was 36 months for sales before 6 April 2014 and is now 9 months for most people.
Only where you or your spouse or civil partner are disabled or a long-term care home resident and neither of you has another home that could qualify for relief. Otherwise the final period is 9 months.
Not because of the timing. If it has been your only or main home throughout, you normally pay none. If it was let or a second home, CGT may be due whenever you sell.
Absences adding up to 3 years for any reason can count as time living there, even if the home was let, provided you lived there before and genuinely moved back afterwards.
3 years from buying your new main home. You then have 12 months from the later of the sale or the filing date of your SDLT return to claim.
