Investing in Commercial Property through your pension
Solicitors specialising in pension fund transactions
Lawyers specialising in pension fund property
Investing in commercial property via your Self-Invested Personal Pension Scheme (SIPP) or Small Self-Administered Scheme (SASS) can be a good way to increase the tax efficiency of your pension and release equity from your business premises.
We are experts in dealing with acquisitions, investment management and disposals of pension fund property and have links with a number of local and national pension administrators which enables us to deal with these matters quickly and efficiently whilst guiding you through the legal complexities involved.
We can assist with
Acquisition and disposal of commercial property through a SIPP or SASS Dealing with all aspects of occupational lease work as required by your pension administrator. Detailed knowledge of the appropriate pension regulations regarding property investment Ongoing work to deal with management of occupational leases including applications for landlord consent under leases Specialist advice on title restructuring on mixed use properties 
SIPP vs SSAS: What's the difference?
SIPP – Self Invested Personal Pension Plan
A personal pension scheme set up by a specialist SIPP Operator or insurance company. Anyone can take out a SIPP providing they meet the provider’s eligibility requirements. These are usually based on a minimum fund size and aimed at high-net-worth individuals.
A SIPP is a product of the SIPP provider/administrator. Many providers set up their SIPP as a master trust, with a bare trustee company as the main trustee, registered with HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC). Each client who becomes a member of a SIPP has a separate account. This is their ‘individual SIPP’.
Where the member is to be a joint trustee of the account, they will establish a ring fenced sub-trust under the SIPP’s master trust. Each member’s individual SIPP is therefore subject to the provider/administrator’s rules and requirements.
The individual member makes all investment decisions in relation to their individual SIPP (taking advice as they see fit) but only in respect of investments that satisfy all the SIPP provider/administrator’s requirements.
Since April 2007, SIPPs have been regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and are provided by FCA regulated firms like banks, buildings societies and insurance companies.
SSAS – Small Self-Administered Scheme / Small occupational scheme
Set up by the directors of a business who want more control over the investment decisions relating to their pensions and in particular, to use their pension plans to invest in the business.
Each member of the SSAS is usually a trustee. The members are usually employees or directors of the sponsoring employer. There is no limit on the number of members but, as the name suggests, these schemes tend to be relatively small.
Each member has a notional share of the SSAS funds including noninsured assets such as property and possibly insured money held in a trustee investment plan.
A SSAS does not have to have a practitioner or a professional trustee. However, this will largely be the case (and is advisable) because they will normally provide some or all the services a SSAS requires. One of the which is that the person(s) making up the SSAS administrator is (are) ‘fit and proper’ for the role or that they employ an adviser who has sufficient working knowledge of the pensions tax legislation, in particular the duties and liabilities of the SSAS administrator.
SSAS must be registered with HMRC in order to benefit from tax exemption benefits. Each SSAS will also be granted a Pension Scheme Tax Reference (PSTR) number. As a SSAS is a workplace pension, each SSAS must be registered with The Pensions Regulator (TPR) if there is at least one employee enrolled. If the SSAS is made up of just one member, such as the employer, then it does not need to be registered with TPR.
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