£8m Property Group Succession Planning

The Situation

A property group valued at approximately £8 million had grown organically over many years. Properties had been added across different entities and personal ownership, with no consistent structure.

The owners had no formal succession plan. There was no clarity over who would inherit what, how control would pass, or how tax would be managed if something happened to them.

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The Risk

Without intervention:

• The group could face large inheritance tax bills
• Family members could inherit assets they could not manage
• Disputes over ownership and control were likely
• Valuable reliefs and tax planning opportunities could be lost

The lack of structure put both the assets and the family relationships at risk.

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Our Review

We conducted a full group wide review covering:

• Every property and ownership vehicle
• Personal and corporate shareholdings
• Inheritance tax exposure
• VAT registration and property treatment
• The long term family objectives

This allowed us to see where risk and inefficiency existed.

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The Strategy

1. Holding company structure designed
   We created a clear group structure so that all trading and property entities sat beneath a central holding company. This provided control, transparency and future flexibility.
2. Trust planning introduced
   Trusts were used to hold key shares so that value could pass to the next generation without handing over day to day control.
3. VAT and property tax reviewed
   We assessed VAT treatment across the group to ensure that property transactions and leases were correctly structured and did not create unnecessary liabilities.
4. Succession and governance mapped
   Voting rights, control and future transfers were documented so the family knew exactly how the group would operate in the future.