Tax when selling only home

[amazon123]

I'm looking for advice on the tax implications of selling my only home, which I am in the process of renovating.

I bought my first house in 2013 and renovated it to a high standard while living in it, without any real intention of selling it. A few years later I wanted to move to somewhere larger due to family changes, and sold it earlier this year at a decent profit. I moved into a larger house which also needed a large amount of work, and have almost finished renovating it while living in it, and I anticipate if I sold it I would make a good profit again. I'm concerned about the caveat in relation to selling your main home that you wouldn't be exempt from tax when selling a house if you "bought a home for the purpose of renovating it and selling it on." I haven't expressly done this, but the profit I would make if I decided to move in the next year or so would be decent.

How could it be proven that you sold a house simply to make a profit? There is no mention in any documentation I've read about the length of time you need to spend in a property for it not to be considered a purchase for profit situation, nor any mention of the frequency of moves over X amount of years. I lived in my first house for three and a half years and expect to live in my current house for at least 18 months before moving on.

I hope this makes sense. As I say, I have only owned one house at a time and have lived in both throughout any works I've undertaken to make them comfortable.

[SteLacca]

How it's proven would generally be if HMRC or you take any appeal to tribunal, where the matter would be determined on the balance of probabilities. They would examine intentions, actions etc. in reaching their decision.

If, however, the intention was always to buy and sell at a profit (regardless of the renovation), then it becomes trading income and subject to income tax rather than a capital disposal and subject to associated reliefs.