Property hub / Moving property into a company
What would it cost to move your properties into a company?
A transfer to your own company is a sale at market value. See the CGT, stamp duty and refinancing cost, whether incorporation relief may apply, and the payback.
Checked against legislation and HMRC guidance2026/27 rates, with the Finance Act 2026 claim ruleUpdated 3 October 2026
Total cost: price paid, buying costs and improvements. Refinancing: early repayment charges and new lender fees.
For the payback: a year
Is the letting a business?
20 hours is an indicator HMRC uses, not a rule. Fewer hours can still qualify on the facts.
The costs, with and without relief
Incorporating a property portfolio
Moving property you own into your own company counts as selling it to the company at market value. That can trigger Capital Gains Tax on the growth since you bought it, and the company pays stamp duty on the full value. Incorporation relief can defer the gain, but only if the letting is a business and the whole business moves across for shares.
Capital Gains Tax and incorporation relief
Section 162 relief rolls the gain into the cost of the new shares, so no CGT is paid until the shares are sold. The courts look at the activity as a whole: in Ramsay v HMRC, managing a property divided into flats for around 20 hours a week was a business. HMRC accepts 20 hours or more a week of business-type activity, done by the owners personally, as indicating a business; below that it depends on the facts.1 For transfers on or after 6 April 2026 the relief must be claimed, by the first anniversary of the 31 January after the tax year, and the old election to disapply it (s 162A) has been repealed: without a claim, no relief.2 How the mortgages move across affects how much of the gain is relieved.
Stamp duty
A company connected with you pays stamp duty on at least the market value.3 In England and Northern Ireland multiple dwellings relief ended on 1 June 2024, so the rates apply to the total value of the dwellings moved together. Scotland and Wales still offer multiple dwellings relief. A company pays the higher rates on dwellings of £40,000 or more, and six or more dwellings are treated as non-residential, or can claim multiple dwellings relief in Scotland and Wales.4
The partnership route
Some schemes move property into a partnership first, because a genuine partnership transferring to a company connected with its partners can pay little or no stamp duty.5 HMRC can challenge arrangements set up to save stamp duty, including under FA 2003 s 75A and Sch 15 para 17A. HMRC has said that schemes routing property through hybrid partnerships do not work (Spotlight 63). We review these case by case and do not recommend arrangements that fail the professional standards for tax planning.
Common questions
Do I have to pay CGT when I move my buy-to-lets into a company?
Yes, on the gain since you bought them, unless incorporation relief applies because the letting is a business and the whole business is transferred for shares.
Is there stamp duty when property moves into a company?
Yes, usually. The company pays stamp duty on the market value. A genuine partnership may pay less, but this route is complex, open to challenge and needs specialist advice.
Will my mortgage lender allow it?
Personal mortgages normally have to be repaid and replaced with company lending, which can mean early repayment charges, new fees and different rates.
Sources (5)
- Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992, s 162; Ramsay v HMRC [2013] UKUT 0226 (TCC); HMRC, Capital Gains Manual, CG65715.
- TCGA 1992, s 162(1)(b), inserted by Finance Act 2026, s 39.
- Finance Act 2003, s 53.
- FA 2003, ss 55 and 116(7) and Sch 4ZA.
- FA 2003, Sch 15 paras 18 and 20.
Thinking about incorporating?
Whether relief applies depends on facts HMRC will test. We review the business, the lending and the alternatives before anything moves.