CGT when moving from 1 main residence to the next

[pakora]

We're looking at buying a house that needs a bit of modernisation, we will sell our current main residence once the new house is ready. So how long do we have between buying the new house and moving into it, before we have to pay CGT on the sale of our old house.

[deggles]

Can't you just keep the current house as your main residence, then you don't have to worry about CGT? SDLT is another issue, you'll probably have to pay the higher rate on the new purchase then reclaim when you sell the current house.

[BAMoFo]

Two years according to this: https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/capital-g...