Software & Property

I’m Clive — a qualified Chartered Accountant and hands-on property investor with over 30 years’ experience helping people make smarter financial decisions and build long-term wealth.

My day-to-day work is split between:

Investing in high-yield HMO properties across the North West and Yorkshire

Advising landlords, builders, and small businesses on tax, accounting and compliance

And I love both.

Because I believe smart property investing and smart tax planning go hand-in-hand — and most people don’t get either right.

Hello... I'm Clive Cass

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Accounting Software

There are 4 ways to maintain your accounting records:

Manual (paper and pen);

Excel which is a spreadsheet that replicates manual records;

Integrated Accounting software such as Quickbooks, Xero, FreeAgent & SAGE.

Integrated Systems

Integrated accounting systems are the way to go when your accountancy and tax requirements reach a certain level of complexity. This will often be the case if you act as a limited company and need a Balance sheet or where you are VAT registered. I am happy to advise what software you will need now and when it is time for you to move on to something else.

Microsoft Excel

Excel is MTD compliant however will not easily cope with more complex issues such as VAT, large portfolios and limited companies where a balance sheet is required. If this is all you can manage it is however a reasonable way (and better than manual records) to provide the information to your book keeper to transfer, if necessary, to accountaing software. I can of course set you up on a suitable Excel accounting system, such as my free one designed for small businesses.

These systems are ideal for landlords of Buy to Lets who want to either manage them rather than get an estate agent to do so or who want to at least be actively involved in some aspects of the management.

The accounting systems are excellent but are limited in that they generally cannot handle VAT or produce a balance sheet which is a requirement for limited companies.

The real beauty of these systems is that they are really simple to use and provide a lot of management information from simple reminders about deadlines for insurance or safety checks to details of tenancies and even great financial information such as rental yields, equity and remortages.

Property Management & Accountancy Systems

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Elite Broker Blogs

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SDLT Relief on Acquisition by Property Traders from Personal Representatives

New Blog Post

Property Investing| Tax| Property

August 23, 2026•2 min read

SDLT Relief on Acquisition by Property Traders from Personal Representatives

Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) is generally payable on the acquisition of land and property in England and Northern Ireland. However, specific reliefs may apply in certain circumstances.

One such relief is available where a property trader acquires residential property from personal representatives (PRs) of a deceased person. This relief can significantly reduce or eliminate SDLT liabilities and is particularly relevant for property developers who purchase inherited property for resale.

What is the Relief?

This relief is designed to facilitate the efficient transfer of property from estates into the market. Where a qualifying property trader purchases a property from PRs, the transaction may benefit from an SDLT exemption, provided certain conditions are met.

In essence, the relief recognises that such transactions are part of a trading activity rather than long-term investment and therefore reduces the SDLT burden to avoid discouraging redevelopment and resale.

Key Conditions

To claim the relief, all the following conditions must be satisfied:

·The dwelling is acquired in the course of a business that consists of or includes acquiring dwellings from personal representatives of deceased individuals.

·The deceased individual occupied the dwelling as their only or main residence at some time in the two years ending with the date of their death.

·The property trader does not intend to spend more than the permitted amount on refurbishment of the dwelling.

·The property trader does not intend to grant a lease or licence of the dwelling, or to permit any of its principals or employees (or any person connected them) to occupy the dwelling.

·The area of land acquired does not exceed the permitted area.

For these purposes, the legislation defines:

·‘Property trader’ as either a company, LLP or a corporate partnership.

·‘Refurbishment’ as works that enhance the value of the dwelling, not including cleaning or works required solely for the purpose of ensuring that the dwelling meets minimum safety standards.

·‘Permitted amount”, as the higher of £10,000, or 5% of the consideration for the acquisition of the dwelling, but subject to a maximum of £20,000.

·‘Permitted area’ as, generally, 0.5 of a hectare.

If the conditions are not met, SDLT will be payable at the standard residential rates, including possible surcharges

How We Can Help

Determining eligibility for SDLT relief can be complex and fact-specific. As your advisers, we can:

·Assess whether your transaction qualifies.

·Structure acquisitions to maximise tax efficiency.

·Prepare and submit SDLT returns correctly.

·Support you in dealing with HMRC queries.

Further information

More information on this relief can be found in HMRC’s SDLT manual:

SDLTM21040 - Reliefs: Certain acquisitions of residential property - HMRC internal manual - GOV.UK

taxproperty investing

Clive Cass

Clive Cass is a Chartered Accountant & Property Investor who shares his insights into the world of Property Investing. Read along with him as he breaks-down all the facts, information and legislation into easy to follow blog posts.

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