A. Where an individual has two or more residences an election can be made under TCGA 1992 s222(5) where an individual may elect a residence by notice to an officer of the Board given within 2 years from the beginning of that period but subject to a right to vary the notice by a further notice to an officer of the Board as respects any period beginning no earlier than two years before the giving of the further notice.
However, the normal rules in TCGA 1992 s222 would still apply and the conditions would still have to be met. TCGA 1992 s222(1) (a) ‘a dwelling-house or part of a dwelling-house which is, or has at any time in his period of ownership been, his only or main residence’. If your client has never lived in house B as his main residence then he wouldn’t meet the original conditions so would be unable to make an election. Ownership of a property isn’t enough for it to qualify as an individual’s main residence for TCGA 1992 s222.
It is important to understand the difference between ownership and residence. The word residence is not defined in the legislation so it must be given its ordinary meaning. For an individual its ordinary meaning is the dwelling in which that person habitually lives: in other words, his or her home as stated in HMRC’s manual CG64427. This also mentions court case Frost v Feltham where it was stated ‘A residence is a place where somebody lives’.
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