Two Principle Private Residences- How strict are revenue

I plan to purchase a second house early next year and would like to hold onto my first
house for as long as possible without being exposed to CGT. There does not appear to
be much revenue documentation on the area of having two priciple private residences
for a period of time. One tax briefing mentions 6mths waiver while moving house but is this a hard limit?

Has anyone managed to have Two Principle Private Residences for greater than 6 mths? I'm sure there have been cases whereby sales fell through or because of a technical fault a house became unliveable resulting in an extension been granted?

An individual or married couple can't have two PPRs but you can take up to 12 months to sell an old one while or after moving into a new one without there being any CGT issues even if the property is rented (although there will be an SD clawback if a property originally bought as an owner occupied PPR is rented out within 5 years of purchase). Once you hold onto a former PPR for more than 12 months then it automatically becomes an investment property.

Clubman - Thanks for the quick reply. Can you point me to the revenue document that states there is a 12mth waiver in between moving house. I can't for the life of me find it.

See section 5 of the Revenue CGT summary guide:

5. Private Residence

Full Relief

...

Partial Relief

• ...
• The exemption is also restricted where the taxpayer has not lived in the house for long periods. However, a period of up to twelve months immediately before the end of the period of ownership is treated as a period of occupation even though the owner may not have been actually living in it during that period.

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