Create a buy-to-let limited company and get tax efficient

THE BENEFITS

Investing through a limited company

Remain tax-efficient

One of the main benefits is offsetting expenses off your revenue in a limited company. If you buy in your personal name you are limited on what you can offset as an expense. Through a limited company, however, you are permitted to offset multiple different property expenses from your revenue. This makes it more advantageous for tax purposes as you are taxed on your profit after expenses have been deducted from your revenue. There are other corporation tax and inheritance tax benefits of limited companies.

Lower personal risk

Owning properties through a limited company allows you to separate your personal finances from your business operations, providing legal protection if the company faces financial difficulties.

More flexible investing

Having a company structure can help you scale your portfolio. It allows for easier co-investing with partners, whether that is family, friends, or professional investors, while setting clear terms for ownership, profit sharing, and responsibilities. Good share holder agreements and management services can make this even simpler.

THE BASICS

What you need to know about limited companies for property investing

Registering your company

To set up a limited company, you need to register with Companies House, the UK's registrar of companies. This can either be done yourself or using a company formation agent. During the registration process, you must specify a Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code that accurately represents your business activity.For limited companies created for property investment purposes, the correct SIC code is 68209, this is for property-owning companies that let and operate real estate. Using the wrong SIC code may cause issues later down the line, especially when applying for a buy-to-let mortgage, as lenders require assurance that the company’s sole purpose is holding investment property

Shareholders and Directors

The structure of your company will include shareholders and directors. If an individual is a director of a company they are also required to be at least a 1% shareholder. Shareholders own the company, while directors manage its daily operations. It is common for individuals to act as both shareholder and director. However, it’s important to clearly define roles and responsibilities in legal documents such as a Shareholders’ Agreement. This agreement is particularly important if you're investing with others, as it outlines how decisions will be made, how profits will be distributed, and how disputes will be resolved. You may consider setting up a Director's Loan Agreement, this allows you to lend money to your own company and repay yourself later from company profits.

BUILDING BLOCKS

Additional considerations when setting up a limited company

UK Business Account

A business bank account is crucial for managing your property investments, and many mortgage lenders will require it for financing approval.

A Registered Office

Your company must have a registered UK office address. You can use your home address or you can use a service to provide a registered office address.

Ongoing Company Management

Ongoing company management is important and a compliance requirement. You will need to file annual accounts and maintain records of your company's financial activity.

GET STARTED

How do you set up your limited company?

With GetGround you can design your company in under half an hour

Calculate my limited company savings

Design

Design your company in half an hour. We’ll guide you every step of the way – and secure your investment with purpose-built legal docs.

Relax

Swap spreadsheets for simplicity. We’ll handle your annual accounts and tax filing for just £29.00 a month.

Profit

See your limited company’s income and outgoings under one roof, and get a clear view of your cash flow.

Don't just take our word for it

Hear from our investors all over the world

What I like about GetGround is just how easy the team there are to deal with. The website is secure, clean and simple to navigate around. It allows you to have visibility of your property portfolio and all the associated documentation related to each property. The team will also take care of your annual accounts. All this for a very reasonable annual fee. Highly recommended.

E. Barber

I am really pleased to have chosen GetGround to manage my small portfolio of companies. They are so responsive and helpful. The process was seamless, and I am definitely an layperson when it comes to these things. Couldn't be happier!

Anonymous

Set up two companies so far to manage two properties via GetGround. Very smooth process and have also had the first years accounts done too. Very simple process so far. Great for managing my small property portfolio. About to set up our third one now. Would wholeheartedly recommend for small property portfolios.

R. Matthews