Some of the best £1m+ deals don’t look like bargains on the surface — they look like ordinary purchases that were structured well. Here is a real one: a semi-commercial property bought at around 25% below value, where the buyer split the titles on completion, separated the freehold and the leases into different companies, and pulled almost all of their money back out. The property did the work, but the structure is what turned a good buy into an all-money-out deal. This is how that kind of outcome is engineered — and where people usually get it wrong.

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Buying below value is only the start

A genuine discount matters, but on its own it just means you have equity on paper. The equity only becomes useful cash when you can refinance against the property’s true value and release it — and whether you can do that cleanly depends far more on how the asset is held and structured than on how big the original discount was. Buyers who stop at “I got 25% off” often find the money stuck in the deal, because the property in its purchased form isn’t set up for the lender or the exit they want. The discount is the opportunity. The structure is what converts it.

Splitting titles on completion

Semi-commercial and mixed-use assets often contain more value apart than together. A single title covering a shop with flats above, for instance, can be worth more once the residential and commercial elements are separated into their own titles — each can then be valued, financed and, if you choose, sold on its own terms. Doing this on completion, as part of the plan rather than as an afterthought, means the structure is right from day one and you are not unpicking a bad setup later. The key is that title splitting is decided before you buy, with the finance and the end-state in mind, not improvised once you own it.

Separating freehold and leases

The next layer is holding the freehold and the leases in different companies. Done properly, this can create flexibility in how value is drawn out, how risk is separated between parts of the asset, and how each element is financed or eventually disposed of. It also changes how a lender sees the deal. This is genuinely technical territory with real tax and legal consequences, which is exactly why it belongs in a conversation with your accountant and solicitor before completion — get the structure wrong and the costs of unwinding it can wipe out the benefit. The reason it appears in a case like this is that the buyer planned it deliberately, with advisers, rather than reaching for it after the fact.

How the money comes back out

Put the pieces together — a real discount, titles split, freehold and leases separated, each element valued on its strongest basis — and you reach the point where a refinance against true value can return most or all of the original deposit, and often a large share of the stamp duty and professional fees too. That is what “all money out” means in practice: the same capital freed up to do the next deal, rather than sitting locked in this one. It is not magic and it is not guaranteed; it is the payoff of getting the value, the lender and the structure aligned before you commit. This is the same discipline behind any well-run portfolio purchase and behind the way you structure the SPV that holds it.

Where people get it wrong

The common mistake is sequencing: buying first, then trying to bolt on a clever structure. By then the title is set, the lender is chosen, the SDLT is paid, and the options have narrowed. The buyers who pull their money back out decide the structure before they offer, with their advisers and broker in the room. If you want to know whether a discounted deal you’re looking at can be structured this way, that is exactly what a review is for. This article is educational, not advice — every deal is different and the tax and legal treatment must be checked for your specific circumstances.

Book a free Portfolio Fit Review

If you are looking at a discounted £1m+ or semi-commercial deal and want to know whether it can be structured to release your cash, the first step is a free fifteen-minute Portfolio Fit Review. We look at the deal, the value and the finance and tell you straight what is realistic. We are a structured-finance specialist on large portfolio purchases, and we work alongside your tax adviser and solicitor rather than replacing them.

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The guidance contained within this article is subject to the UK regulatory regime and is primarily targeted at customers in the UK. SPV Mortgages does not provide tax or legal advice; we work alongside your tax adviser and solicitor. Your property may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.