Can I live in a property owned by my limited company?

In England and Northern Ireland, the main answer is tax: a company can own a dwelling you occupy, but the structure can trigger SDLT, income-tax benefit rules, ATED and mortgage problems. Wales uses Land Transaction Tax and Scotland uses LBTT rather than SDLT; the income-tax and ATED points below are UK-wide.

Can you live in a property your limited company owns?

A company buying a dwelling over £500,000 for occupation by a connected person pays 17% SDLT in England and Northern Ireland, not the 15% figure still repeated on many pages, and no statute bars a director from living in a company-owned property; the cost is tax, not legality. Finance Act 2025 changed the higher-rate company dwelling charge, and FA 2003 Sch 4A now says “the amount of tax chargeable” is 17% of the chargeable consideration. If you live there because of your role as director or employee, ITEPA 2003 can tax the accommodation as employment earnings, and the benefit rule applies even if the terms look like a fair bargain. A separate practical block is lending: limited-company buy-to-let lenders may contractually forbid the applicant, shareholder or immediate family from occupying the property as a main residence.

Can your limited company rent its property to you?

Your limited company can rent its property to you, but paying full market rent only removes the income-tax accommodation benefit charge if it equals the statutory rental value; it does not restore ATED relief for a dwelling over £500,000 once a connected person occupies it. For income tax, ITEPA 2003 says the cash equivalent is nil where the accommodation’s rental value does not exceed the sum “made good” by the employee, so a proper market rent can deal with that benefit-in-kind charge. ATED is different: Finance Act 2013 denies relievable days where a non-qualifying individual is permitted to occupy the dwelling, and the definition is aimed at connected individuals such as directors, shareholders and their connected persons. Lenders also dislike the arrangement because a company landlord is unlikely to evict its own owner-director for non-payment.

Last reviewed August 2026.

Sources

• Finance Act 2003 Sch 4A — “(a)the amount of tax chargeable in respect of the transaction is 17% of the chargeable consideration for the transaction, and” Source
• ITEPA 2003 s.102 — “the cash equivalent of the benefit of the accommodation is to be treated as earnings from the employment for that year” Source
• ITEPA 2003 s.97 — “(a)the living accommodation is a benefit for the purposes of this Chapter (and accordingly it is immaterial whether the terms on which it is provided to any of those persons constitute a fair bargain), and” Source
• The Mortgage Lender BTL criteria guide — “The applicant (including as owner or any shareholders of any TML funding) or immediate family is not permitted to occupy or use this as their main residence at any time over the period of the lend.” Source
• ITEPA 2003 s.105 — “If the rental value of the accommodation for the taxable period does not exceed any sum made good by the employee as mentioned in subsection (2)(b), the cash equivalent is nil.” Source
• Finance Act 2013 s.133 — “A day is not relievable by virtue of subsection (1) or section 134 in the case of a single-dwelling interest if on that day a non-qualifying individual is permitted to occupy the dwelling.” Source
• Finance Act 2013 s.136 — “In sections 133 and 135 "non-qualifying individual", in relation to a single-dwelling interest, means any of the following—” Source
• John Charcol limited company buy-to-let guide — “Since limited company buy-to-let mortgages are based on rental income via an AST (Assured Shorthold Tenancy), living in the property yourself raises red flags – after all, if you stop paying rent, you're hardly going to evict yourself.” Source