Potentially unusual CGT question

Hello all,

I have searched high and low for an answer to this question on the interweb (this site included) but think this particular question may not have been asked before. If anyone would be so kind as to contribute an opinion on the matter i would very much appreciate it.

As i've not posted before i will try to use my 6 years experience as an auditor to answer other questions floating around the forums to which i know the answers.

I'm wondering whether a property I purchased is eligible for PPR or partial PPR. I rented the property for 1.5 years and then purchased it. By the time i purchased it i had moved out and have not returned there to live, ever. It was, until a year ago the only property, i owned. No need to worry about the complication of my second property, i can work out the implications of that based on the answer to the main question which is whether the first can have been deemed to be my PPR.

I know that for PPR relief you must at some point haved lived in the property as your main residence, therefore once i'd purchased the place it wasn't my PPR as i didn't ever live there.

However can the fact that it was my main residence for a year and a half before i purchased it mean that it was at some point my PPR (and therefore mean that i can claim PPR for the final 3 years of ownership which in turn opens up lettings relief to me)

Thanks in advance for your time and help.

Most of the main conditions of claiming Private Principal Residence (PPR) refer to the term "period of ownership".

Therefore, you should not be able to claim PPR when you had not acquired the house.