UK property remains one of the most exposed asset classes for inheritance tax, and for investors holding substantial portfolios, the planning landscape has rarely felt more urgent. That was the central message from PCD Group's webinar on 3 July 2026, which brought together tax and legal perspectives on the issues facing UK property investors today. Moderated by David Bell, the session featured Zeeshan Khilji on the tax landscape and Lorna du Sautoy on the legal and transactional dimensions of succession planning.

Why property sits so exposed

UK-situs property falls within the UK inheritance tax net regardless of the owner's residency, and investment property rarely qualifies for reliefs such as business relief that shelter other asset classes. The result, as the session set out, is that IHT exposure on a property portfolio can run to around 40% of its value on death. Property's illiquidity and concentration risk compound the problem: unlike shares or cash, a home or a rental block cannot easily be partially liquidated to meet a tax bill, which makes early planning far more valuable than a reactive response after the event.

The planning toolkit

The session worked through the established mitigation tools available to landlords and their advisers. Lifetime gifting remains a core option, using the seven-year potentially exempt transfer rules, though the donor must survive the full period for the gift to fall outside the estate. Trusts offer another route, though they bring their own lifetime tax charges, with transfers above the nil-rate band taxed at 20% on entry.

A recurring theme was the trade-off between capital gains tax and inheritance tax. Transferring an asset during lifetime can crystallise a CGT charge now in exchange for reducing the eventual IHT exposure, and given comparatively lower CGT rates, accepting that upfront cost can be the more efficient long-term choice. Which route makes sense depends heavily on individual circumstances and a client's appetite for paying tax now versus later.

Family investment companies and corporate structuring featured prominently, allowing founders to retain control while freezing the value of their own shares and letting future growth accrue to the next generation through growth shares. Family buyouts and corporate demergers were also discussed as mechanisms that can defer CGT through the use of loan notes and reorganisation rules. One point speakers were keen to correct: holding UK property through an offshore corporate structure no longer removes it from the scope of UK inheritance tax, a common misconception among longer-standing investors.

The Renters' Rights Bill changes the calculus

Alongside the tax discussion, the webinar addressed a live and pressing complication for landlords: the Renters' Rights Bill. With Section 21 “no-fault” evictions no longer available, recovering possession now requires a statutory ground and a court process, and timelines for regaining vacant possession have become considerably less predictable, potentially running to many months or longer. This uncertainty has direct consequences for succession planning, affecting the timing of sales, restructures, transfers into trust, and any disposal that depends on delivering a property with vacant possession. Rather than making succession planning less urgent, the panel argued, this shift makes it more so — tenanted property is materially harder to gift or restructure cleanly, and legal advice should be sought before any lifetime transfer is attempted.

Getting the fundamentals right

The legal and transactional discussion returned repeatedly to fundamentals that are too often overlooked. An ownership audit — checking legal title, beneficial interests, mortgages and tenancies, including a proper review of Land Registry entries and any declarations of trust — should be the starting point for any landlord reviewing their position. Joint tenancy versus tenants in common was flagged as a decision with outsized consequences for both IHT and estate planning, and severing a joint tenancy where lifetime control and testamentary wishes need to be aligned was highlighted as a frequently missed step.

Wills and lasting powers of attorney also came under scrutiny. Wills should be reviewed and updated after significant acquisitions or restructuring, and should reflect actual ownership rather than assumptions; a UK will for UK-situs assets was recommended where none currently exists. LPAs were flagged as essential for ensuring a portfolio can continue to be managed if an owner loses capacity. Life insurance written in trust was noted as a practical way to provide liquidity to meet an IHT bill without forcing a sale of the underlying assets.

On the transactional side, lender consent, refinancing considerations, and SDLT exposure all constrain what can be done and when, while tenant consents and superior landlord approvals can introduce further delay to any restructuring.

The takeaway

The clear takeaway for landlords: review ownership structure, wills, and LPAs now, treat the Renters' Rights Bill as a prompt to revisit exit strategy alongside succession intentions, and ensure tax and legal advice are sought jointly rather than in isolation.