If you live in job related accommodation and own a house you intend to occupy as your only or main residence in due course, section 222(8) of the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992 treats that house as your residence for as long as the intention lasts. You can get private residence relief on it even if you never actually move in, but relief stops once you no longer intend to live there.

Who is this rule for?

Private residence relief normally needs actual occupation. CG64465 says an intention to occupy is not enough, and cites section 222(8) as one of the few exceptions written into the legislation. It is aimed at people whose work requires them to live in accommodation provided for them, so that they cannot live in a home they own. Typical cases are employees who must live on site, people provided with housing for security reasons, members of the armed forces and some self employed people bound by contract to live at their business premises.

The rule is set out in section 222(8) to (9), and HMRC’s guidance is at CG64555 and in helpsheet HS283. HS283 explains that the house you intend to occupy is treated as actually being occupied by you as a residence during the period you intend to occupy it, even if you never live there.

When is accommodation job related?

Section 222(8A) gives the test. Accommodation provided because of your employment, or your spouse’s or civil partner’s employment, is job related in three cases:

  • it is necessary for the proper performance of the duties that the employee lives there;
  • it is provided for the better performance of the duties, and the employment is of a kind where it is customary for employers to provide accommodation;
  • there is a special threat to the employee’s security, special security arrangements are in force and the employee lives there as part of them.

HS283 links this to income tax: accommodation is job related if it is exempt from income tax for the reasons in helpsheet HS202. The income tax side is covered in the living accommodation benefit.

Two further categories were added. Under section 222(8A)(c), accommodation is job related where an armed forces accommodation allowance, meaning one exempt under section 297D of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003, is paid towards its cost; CG64555 explains this covers payments under the Ministry of Defence’s Future Accommodation Model. And under section 222(8A)(b), a self employed person can qualify where an arm’s length contract requires them, or their spouse or civil partner, to carry on a trade, profession or vocation on premises provided by another person and to live on those or other premises that person provides. HS283 confirms this extension applies to the self employed.

Who is excluded?

Directors face a restriction under section 222(8B). Where a company provides the accommodation to one of its directors, or a director of an associated company, the first two employment cases above do not apply unless the director has no material interest in the company and either works full time for it, or the company is non profit making or charitable. The security case is not restricted.

The self employed route is blocked by section 222(8C) where the accommodation is provided wholly or partly by a company in which you or your spouse or civil partner have a material interest, or by someone you are in partnership with. In other words, you cannot create job related status by renting accommodation to yourself through your own company or firm.

What does the intention test require?

Section 222(8)(b) requires that you intend in due course to occupy the house as your only or main residence. CG64555 makes three practical points:

  • if you never actually occupy the house because your circumstances change, relief is still available provided it was always your intention to occupy it;
  • once the intention ceases, the house is no longer treated as your residence from that point;
  • letting the house while you live in job related accommodation does not prevent relief, but a lease running beyond the period you expect to stay in the job related accommodation may be evidence that you had no intention to move in at the end of it.

Keep evidence of the intention from the start, such as the reason you bought the house, its location relative to where you plan to retire or work next, and any plans for moving in.

Do you need to nominate the house as your main residence?

Sometimes. Section 222(8) deems the house to be a residence, so if you have another residence at the same time, the normal choice of main residence applies. CG64477 says that where no nomination is made, relief goes to the residence that is the main residence as a matter of fact, and the deemed residence is not automatically relieved.

CG64555 explains how this depends on the terms of the job related accommodation. If you occupy it under a service occupancy, you hold it under a licence, so it is not a residence for these purposes. If you have only one other residence, the house you intend to occupy, no nomination is needed. If you occupy it under a tenancy, it is a residence, and you may need to nominate the house you own within the time limits. See choosing which home is your main residence.

How does this differ from the absence rules?

The periods of absence rules in section 223(3) can also cover time when work keeps you away, including up to four years where the location of your job prevents you living at home. But under section 223(3A) they need the house to have been your only or main residence at some time before the absence (CG65046). Section 222(8) has no such condition; the house is treated as occupied simply because you live in job related accommodation and intend to move in. The absence rules are covered in PRR periods of absence.

Because section 222(8) treats the house as your residence, it also unlocks the final period exemption. HS283 says the final nine months of ownership qualify as long as the house has been your only or main residence at some point.

How does HMRC apply it in practice?

CG64555 gives this case. W, a farm worker, has lived since 2000 in a cottage his employer provides under a licence while he is employed, which is job related accommodation. In July 2011 he buys a house on the coast intending to live there on retirement in 2023. In June 2015 his plans change and he no longer intends to retire there. He sells the house in December 2020.

  • July 2011 to June 2015: 48 months of deemed residence while the intention existed.
  • Final nine months of ownership: relieved, because the house was treated as his only or main residence during ownership.
  • Total: 57 months of the ownership period qualify, and the gain is apportioned on that basis.

Had W kept his intention until the sale, the whole period would have qualified even though he never lived there.

What mistakes come up most often?

  • Assuming any tied or subsidised housing is job related. It must meet one of the section 222(8A) tests.
  • Directors with a material interest in the company that provides their home relying on the rule when section 222(8B) excludes them.
  • Letting the house on terms that contradict a stated intention to move in.
  • Failing to make a nomination where the job related accommodation is held on a tenancy and another residence exists.
  • Forgetting to report a partly relieved gain. Where tax is due on a UK residential property, it must be reported and paid within 60 days of completion; see the 60 day property return.

The general rules on calculating the exempt fraction are in private residence relief explained.

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Reviewed by Christine Anderson, Broker, Solar Protect. Last reviewed 19 October 2026. Part of Accountapedia, the Solar Protect guide to UK tax and accounting. This page is general information, not personalised advice.