SPV (Special Purpose Vehicle / Limited Company Landlord)
Quick answer
A limited company set up solely to hold buy-to-let property, used by landlords to sidestep the Section 24 mortgage-interest restriction — a company deducts finance costs in full, then pays Corporation Tax on the profit. New purchases can be made directly by the company; moving existing personal properties in is a sale to the company, triggering SDLT and potentially CGT. SIC code 68209 is the usual "letting of own property" classification.
At a glance
- Purpose
- Hold BTL; escape the Section 24 interest cap
- Tax
- Corporation Tax on profit; interest fully deductible
- Transfer-in cost
- SDLT + possible CGT (it is a sale)
- SIC code
- 68209 (letting of own property)
Full guide
Read the complete landlord guide on SPV (Special Purpose Vehicle / Limited Company Landlord)
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Open full guideWhy SPV (Special Purpose Vehicle / Limited Company Landlord) matters for landlords
Incorporation is sold as the cure for Section 24, and for a higher-rate landlord building a leveraged portfolio it often is — but moving existing properties in is where the maths breaks, because SDLT and CGT on the "sale" to your own company can wipe out years of tax saving. Company mortgages also carry higher rates and fewer lenders, and profits are taxed again when you draw them as dividends. The honest test is whether you are keeping and growing the portfolio for years (incorporation tends to win) or holding a small, low-leverage set you may sell soon (it usually does not).
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Related terms
Schedule 2 (Housing Act 1988 Possession Grounds)
The schedule of statutory grounds a landlord uses to seek possession of an assured / assured shorthold tenancy under Section 8. Grounds 1–8 are mandatory (court must grant possession if proven): includes ground 1 (landlord-occupier intent), ground 1A (landlord sale, post-RRA 2025), ground 8 (3+ months rent arrears post-RRA 2025), ground 14 (anti-social behaviour). Grounds 9–17 are discretionary (court considers reasonableness): includes ground 11 (persistent late payment) and ground 12 (breach of tenancy). Choice of ground sets the notice period and the burden of proof.
Schedule of Condition
The room-by-room photographed report of the property’s condition at check-in (and updated at check-out). Distinct from the Inventory (which lists items and their condition); Schedule of Condition focuses on the fabric of the property: walls, floors, fittings, decoration. Together they form the deposit deduction evidence base. Required to win a fair-wear-and-tear contested deduction at the DPS, TDS or mydeposits adjudication; absence usually means the deposit is returned in full to the tenant.
Section 13 Notice
The only lawful way to raise rent on an assured periodic tenancy. One increase per 12 months with at least two months' notice (extended from one month by the Renters’ Rights Act 2025). Tenant can refer to the First-tier Tribunal, which can confirm or reduce the rent but cannot set it higher than proposed.
Section 21 Notice
The no-fault eviction notice under Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988. Abolished for new notices from 1 May 2026 under the Renters Rights Act 2025. Landlords must now use Section 8 with a specified ground.
Section 21 Prerequisites
The bundle of pre-conditions a private landlord in England had to satisfy before a Section 21 notice (Form 6A) was valid: deposit protected within 30 days plus Prescribed Information served, current Gas Safety Certificate served, current EICR served, and current GOV.UK How to Rent guide served on the tenant. Section 21 was abolished on 1 May 2026, but these prerequisites did not disappear: they now gate most Section 8 grounds, so missing any one still defeats a possession claim.
Section 47 Notice (Rent Demand Address)
Section 47 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 requires a landlord’s name and address (or that of an agent in England and Wales) to appear on every rent demand for a residential property. If the demand omits this, no rent is legally due until a Section 48 notice (or compliant rent demand) is served. Routinely missed by individual landlords self-managing without a template; the breach blocks rent recovery and pauses any Section 8 ground 8/10/11 arrears clock until cured.