Letting companies accounted for almost two-thirds of property firms wound up in the five working days before last year’s Budget, in a sharp spike that insolvency firm Clarke Bell says wasn’t seen around other recent tax changes.

Of the 54 real estate companies that passed resolutions for Members’ Voluntary Liquidation (MVL) in the five working days, 34 were classified as letting their own or leased property.

These letting companies accounted for 10.7% of all solvent company liquidations that week, almost double their usual share of 5.7%, according to analysis of Companies House and Gazette records by the firm. Real estate MVL resolutions fell to just six in the five working days afterwards - an 89% decrease.

Interestingly, the median age of letting companies closing through MVL was 21.9 years, compared with 12.1 years across all sectors analysed.

Speculation

Although it can’t establish a direct cause for the increase, the firm points to months of speculation about changes to property taxation before the Budget such as reports suggesting the Treasury was considering applying National Insurance to rental income.

It believes there are early signs that property companies are accounting for a larger share of solvent liquidations this year in the run up to 28 October. Between July and September, they represented 13% of all MVLs, compared with 9.7% in the same period in 2025 and 9.5% in 2024. Letting companies accounted for 8.7%, compared with around 5.8% in both previous years.

Behaviour

“With another Budget approaching, the previous three events show just how sharply behaviour can become concentrated around known fiscal deadlines,” says John Bell, (pictured) senior partner and licensed insolvency practitioner at Clarke Bell.

“There had been months of speculation about changes to property taxation, particularly rental income, so it’s possible that uncertainty influenced some shareholders’ decisions,” he tells LandlordZONE. “We can’t establish whether those shareholders were selling properties, restructuring portfolios or simply closing companies they no longer needed.”

He adds: “With another Budget approaching, I’d encourage anyone considering closing a property company to get advice based on their own circumstances rather than make decisions in response to speculation.”

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