There are several different ways to sell multiple properties at the same time, but there’s a lot to think about before making your decision. A few factors have changed in recent years too.
These include the end of Multiple Dwellings Relief in 2024, which has Stamp Duty implications for potential buyers.
There’s also the Renters’ Rights Act, which came into force earlier in 2026, with one outcome being that any tenants in your properties require more notice than they did previously if you’re planning to sell.
This article explores the main things to consider when thinking about selling a property portfolio.
Summary
- You can sell a property portfolio individually, as a combined group, or (if held in a limited company) via a share sale. Each approach has different buyer pools, speed and tax implications.
- Selling the properties individually usually attracts more buyers and receives offers closer to market value but it tends to take longer, with success more dependent on buyer chains.
- Combined portfolio sales target investors and bulk buyers via agents, auctions or specialist agencies, often with faster completion times but usually at a discounted price.
- Multiple Dwellings Relief has been abolished in England since 1 June 2024, though buyers of six or more properties in one transaction may get lower non-residential Stamp Duty rates.
- Capital Gains Tax on residential property is charged at 18% or 24% depending on your total taxable income and gains, with only one £3,000 annual exempt amount across all disposals in the tax year.
Option 1: Selling a portfolio, property by property
The first thing to keep in mind is, just because you have multiple properties you want to sell, doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to sell them all in one go to the same buyer.
You could choose to sell the portfolio property by property, perhaps using the same estate agent for each one.
Overall, the key advantages of this approach are that it significantly broadens the pool of potential buyers and you are more likely to receive the market value for each property:
- Each individual property for sale is a target for any buyer, whether they want to live there or are looking for a buy-to-let
- The buyer pool is much smaller for combined property sales, it’s mainly investors and larger landlords, who usually expect to earn a discount on a multiple property purchase
However, the main disadvantages of this approach tend to be time and complexity:
- Some properties will likely sell quicker than others, meaning it could take much longer to sell each property individually rather than as a collective
- With individual buyers for each property, this exposes you to buyer-specific risks such as chains or a sale potentially falling through on one or more properties after they have made an offer
Of course, you could choose to take a hybrid approach, selling some properties in a portfolio individually and others as a group.
For example, if there is one particularly strong property likely to deliver a big profit and sell easily, you could choose to market that one separately while selling others combined.
Option 2: Combined property portfolio sale
If you want to sell several properties in one transaction, the potential buyer will likely be an investor or investment group, large landlord company or another type of company offering to buy in bulk with cash.
Ways of finding this select pool of buyers include:
- Working with an estate agent, who can leverage their contacts to find appropriate buyers either on the open market or using an off-market property sale approach
- Selling at auction which is a process with fast, confirmed completion dates that often attracts property portfolio buyers
- Using a specialist portfolio or large landlord sales agency, which will typically take an off-market approach
- Look for a ‘quick’ cash-buying company, but keep in mind that these will typically pay the least and many of them are not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) so there are big risks
If you’re considering the latter option, very careful due diligence is essential. Research them thoroughly by checking that they are members of the National Association of Property Buyers (NAPB), registered with The Property Ombudsman (TPO), registered with Companies House and have received genuine, favourable independent reviews.
As before, depending on how many properties are in your portfolio, you may prefer a hybrid approach i.e. selling some individually and others in a collection.
Option 3: Selling a property portfolio held in a limited company
If you bought the properties through a limited company or special purpose vehicle (SPV), or the portfolio is currently in an arrangement like this, another option is to sell the company shares instead.
The buyer may also be able to reduce or remove entirely the Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) due via this method. More on SDLT shortly.
However, there are several caveats to this and instead, it’s worth noting that the share buyer will inherit the company’s historical tax liabilities.
Alternatively, a limited company or SPV selling the properties rather than the shares is an asset sale. This typically incurs corporation tax on the company gains, at a 19% or 25% rate depending on the profits, then extra steps to receive the proceeds.
There are lots of factors to consider here around things like company structure, tax considerations, other potential types of corporate relief and so on. For this third scenario, it’s very important to get some specialist tax advice before proceeding.
Can you sell a portfolio if some properties are tenanted?
In many cases, some if not all of the properties in the portfolio will have tenants living there.
You can sell any property with a sitting tenant or tenant in situ. It changes the most likely buyer type, as large landlords will find this scenario more appealing than owner-occupier buyers, for example.
Another option is to end the tenancies first to sell the properties as vacant. However, as recently covered in our guide to Section 8 notices, there are fewer routes available to landlords wanting to end tenancies since the Renters’ Rights Act came into force on 1 May 2026.
Section 21 ‘no-fault’ evictions are no longer an option, so now landlords needing to take back possession of their property will use Section 8 instead, often giving the reason for wanting to sell their property, which is Ground 1A.
Just note that Section 8 requires giving more notice to the tenant than Section 21 did (only two months). The notice period to take back possession to sell the property via Section 8 Ground 1A is four months and you cannot do this within the first 12 months of a new tenancy agreement.
Therefore, if you want to sell several properties relatively quickly, but one or more tenants have only recently moved in, you may prefer to try selling them with the tenants in situ rather than waiting.
Is there still Multiple Dwellings Relief in England?
SDLT is a key consideration for anyone looking to buy one property, let alone more than one. The current SDLT rates reach up to 12%, for properties costing more than £1.5m and there is a surcharge on top if you already own a residential property.
Prior to 1 June 2024, buyers in England could apply for Multiple Dwellings Relief which reduced the amount of SDLT when buying two or more residential properties in a single transaction. It calculated the tax based on the average price per property.
However, the government abolished Multiple Dwellings Relief for transactions with a completion date on or after 1 June 2024 (but it still exists in Scotland and to some extent in Wales).
Are there any Stamp Duty discounts for portfolio buyers now?
Instead of Multiple Dwellings Relief, a buyer of six or more properties in a single transaction can apply for non-residential SDLT rates.
The maximum rate here is 5% for properties costing above £250,000 and there is no additional surcharge either if the buyer already owns a property, but again, there are several caveats to all this.
Hypothetically, a buyer of four residential properties and one non-residential property in a single transaction also qualifies for non-residential SDLT rates. This is classified as a mixed-use transaction.
Capital Gains Tax on property portfolio sales
For a portfolio seller, it’s important to work out how much Capital Gains Tax (CGT) will be due on the sale.
Residential property gains in 2026/27 are taxed at 18% for basic-rate taxpayers and 24% for higher- or additional-rate taxpayers, after deducting allowable costs and the £3,000 annual exempt amount.
Your rate depends on where your total taxable income plus gains falls relative to the basic-rate band.
HMRC pools all disposals made in the same tax year into a single calculation, so therefore, selling multiple properties at once uses only one £3,000 allowance across the entire portfolio. This means you cannot split the annual exemption between individual properties, or carry forward any unused portion to a later year.
If you are selling a personal property portfolio, you must report and pay your CGT due within 60 days of completion using HMRC’s online service.
Final thoughts: Selling a property portfolio
If you found this article useful, some of our most popular other guides include:
As you can see, there’s plenty to consider when selling a property portfolio. Given the different tax permutations depending on how you choose to sell the properties, it’s strongly recommended to seek some financial advice before proceeding with your preferred option.
A quick chat with a trusted estate agent will also help you work out your options. Based on your portfolio, they can share advice and talk you through what the process would look like for selling properties individually, collectively, with or without tenants, on market or off-market and so on.
For any queries, Fine Living is here for you so please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
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