Why you can’t transfer personally owned rental property to an SPV

Since July 2015 we have seen a huge rise in the number of enquiries from landlords looking to transfer their property portfolios from their personal names into a Special Purpose Vehicle limited company but can it be done?

In real terms, property cannot be “transferred”, rather the transaction is treated as a sale by you to the company.

The sale is a taxable event which means that stamp duty and capital gains will be due but do check with your accountant/solicitor to confirm.

Associated transactions

Currently there are nine buy to let lenders which have products for SPV limited companies; however, two of them will not lend to individuals who are selling to their SPV limited company.

The remaining seven will consider an application as long as the sale is at full market value, and subject to other lending criteria being met particularly:

Deposit

From January 2015, all seven lenders which accept this type of associated transaction, will accept a director’s loan as a deposit which means that you will not be required to provide evidence of the cash.

Property ownership

Generally speaking, the directors of the new SPV will need to be the same as the current owners on the deeds of the property.

If you are considering selling your personally owned properties to your SPV, do get in touch to talk through the options.

Beckie Pepperrell has left Mortgages for Business for pastures new. For more information or for any questions relating to this blog, please contact the Residential Team on 0345 345 6788, where one of our consultant mortgage brokers will be happy to assist.