Property investors and developers are, in our experience, one of the most underserved groups when it comes to proactive accountancy. They often have complex affairs — multiple properties, mixed income streams, development projects at various stages — yet they frequently end up with a generalist accountant who files the returns and not much else.

The tax landscape for property has shifted considerably over the past few years, and 2026 is bringing fresh considerations: the Building Safety Levy now affects many residential developers, the question of holding property personally versus through a limited company remains as live as ever, and HMRC’s scrutiny of property income has not softened. We think now is a good moment to set out how we approach property accounting, and what we believe investors and developers should be expecting from their accountant — not just at year end, but throughout the year.

One of the first conversations we have with property clients is about structure: are you holding property personally, through a limited company, or some combination of both? This is not a question with a universal answer, but it is a question with a right answer for your specific situation — and getting it wrong can be costly.

For landlords with a growing portfolio and higher-rate income tax exposure, a limited company (Special Purpose Vehicle or SPV) can offer real advantages. Corporation tax rates are lower than the higher income tax rate, and mortgage interest relief is still fully available to companies, unlike for personal ownership where Section 24 has significantly restricted relief for individual landlords.

That said, incorporation is not automatically the better path. Transfer of existing personally held properties into a company triggers Stamp Duty Land Tax and potentially Capital Gains Tax, which can make the transition expensive. For someone with one or two properties and basic-rate income, the additional compliance cost of running a company may outweigh the tax benefits.

We tend to run the numbers in detail before making any recommendation. What we will say is that if your accountant has never raised this question with you, that is worth reflecting on. It is exactly the kind of planning that should happen proactively — not when a large tax bill has already crystallised.

Property taxation is one area where getting the detail right genuinely pays off. There are a number of reliefs and allowances that, in our experience, are either missed entirely or claimed incorrectly.

Capital allowances on commercial property

If you hold commercial property — whether in a limited company or personally — there may be substantial capital allowances available on fixtures and fittings embedded in the building. These are often overlooked, particularly when a property changes hands, because the allowance pool can be transferred with a proper election. Many buyers simply do not ask the question.

Repairs versus improvements

The distinction between a revenue repair (deductible against rental income) and a capital improvement (not deductible but potentially reducing CGT on disposal) trips up a lot of landlords. Getting this wrong in either direction creates problems — either HMRC challenges an overclaimed deduction, or you miss relief you were entitled to claim against a future gain.

Furnished Holiday Lets — a changing picture

The favourable tax treatment that applied to qualifying Furnished Holiday Lets has been significantly curtailed from April 2025 onwards. If you had FHL properties and have not revisited your tax position since that change came in, it is worth doing so now. The shift affects income tax relief, CGT treatment, and pension contribution calculations.

These are not obscure edge cases — they come up regularly in our work with property clients.

For property developers specifically, the Building Safety Levy is now a live compliance obligation rather than a future concern. Updated guidance published by the government in July 2025 confirmed that the levy applies to new residential dwellings and purpose-built student accommodation.

Practically speaking, developers are required to provide levy information when submitting an application for building control approval. The charge itself is payable if the works meet the conditions set out in the relevant regulations — which means this is a cost that needs to be built into development appraisals before a project commences, not discovered partway through a build.

We have spoken with developers who were not aware of the levy’s scope or had not factored it into their project costings. In a market where development margins are under pressure, an unexpected levy charge late in a project can materially affect returns — or even viability.

If you are appraising a new residential development project, your accountant should be helping you model this cost alongside the other tax and compliance considerations: VAT on the build (and the interaction with the Zero Rating rules for new builds), whether the development triggers a trade rather than an investment gain, and how the timing of revenue recognition affects your corporation tax position.

These are all areas where proactive input at the planning stage saves a great deal of pain later.

One of the most consistent problems we see when a new property client comes to us is that their records are a mess. Rental income collected into a personal account, expenses paid from multiple cards, invoices lost or never requested, and no clear picture of what each property actually earns net of costs.

This creates two problems. First, it means the tax returns are almost certainly not as accurate as they should be — either leaving money unclaimed or, worse, understating income. Second, it makes financial decisions much harder. If you do not know the true net yield on each property in your portfolio, how do you decide which to hold, which to sell, and where to deploy capital next?

Our approach with property investors is to get them onto cloud accounting software — typically Xero or QuickBooks — with a clear structure for recording income and expenditure by property. This makes the compliance work faster and cheaper (which matters when you have multiple properties to account for), but more importantly it gives you a live picture of your finances that is genuinely useful for decision-making.

Good bookkeeping is not just an admin function in property — it is the foundation of good portfolio management. We think that framing matters. It is not about keeping HMRC happy; it is about giving yourself the information to make better decisions.