Unfortunately, there's no simple answer to this question, as the best ownership structure will depend on a number of factors, such as annual income and requirements, as well as longer term intentions for the properties.

The proposal to restrict tax relief on finance costs to 20% will result in a hike in tax liabilities for many investors, and this could be avoided or mitigated by transferring the properties into a limited company.

Limited company profits are subject to corporation tax at only 20%, reducing to 17% over the next few years, meaning that higher rate taxpayers might benefit from holding long term investment properties in a company structure.