A SIPP can hold most investments, but HMRC taxes residential property and tangible moveable assets such as art or cars, and each provider sets its own list.

If you are checking which SIPP eligible investments are allowed, there are two separate questions: what HMRC's tax rules penalise, and what your provider will accept. The first list is short and the second is usually shorter. A flat, a shop and a vintage car each get their own answer; an FCA-authorised adviser can place yours, and this page's form starts that without a fee.

Which investments can a SIPP hold under HMRC's rules?

Nearly any, on tax grounds. HMRC's Pensions Tax Manual says its rules for registered pension schemes "do not impose any restrictions on the types of asset a pension scheme can invest in", but that there are tax charges for certain types of investment, including "taxable property". What a scheme actually buys also depends on its own rules, on "commercial decisions made by the people who run the scheme", and on other laws and regulators' requirements, including the FCA's.

The manual names SIPPs as a scheme where the member directs the investments. For the basics, see what a SIPP is.

Taxable property: what HMRC penalises

Taxable property means two things: residential property and tangible moveable property. The manual says the rules bite on an "investment-regulated pension scheme", which for a personal pension is one where a member can "direct, influence or advise on the manner of investments". A SIPP usually fits that description.

Residential property

Residential property can be in the UK or elsewhere. It is a building or structure "used or suitable for use as a dwelling", plus the related garden and grounds, and it includes a beach hut and timeshare rights. A buy-to-let or holiday home is therefore on the penalised side, here or abroad.

Tangible moveable property

HMRC describes this as "things that can be touched and that are moveable". Its examples are art, antiques, jewellery, fine wine, boats and classic or vintage cars. Intangible assets such as copyrights and patents are not in this group. One named exception is investment grade gold bullion, defined as gold of a purity "not less than 995 thousandths" in the form of a bar or wafer of a weight accepted by the bullion markets.

Holding it through a fund or company

A company or fund does not by itself avoid the rules: the manual lists unit trusts, investment trusts, insurance contracts and exchange traded funds among the vehicles through which an indirect interest can be held, and a company that owns a house leaves the scheme with an indirect holding of it. HMRC does exempt "genuinely diverse commercial vehicles", such as a UK REIT, provided your arrangement, with associated persons, stays under the manual's 10% limits and the holding is not there to let a member or connected person occupy or use the property.

What the taxable property charges are

The manual explains that acquiring taxable property "creates an unauthorised payment" designed "to remove the tax relief granted" on the money used. The member is liable to the unauthorised member payments charge at 40% of the amount. The scheme administrator is liable to the scheme sanction charge. That charge is 40%, less a deduction (the lesser of 25% of the payment and the member's charge) where the member's unauthorised payments charge has been paid, so it is "generally an amount of 15%". If certain limits are exceeded the member may also face a 15% surcharge.

The amount charged is the whole consideration plus fees and other costs, typically the price plus legal fees and stamp duty. After that, income from the asset and gains on selling it each attract a scheme sanction charge at 40%, which falls on the administrator. Thinking of a tax check on a holding you already have? Free to arrange: the form on this page, then a talk about the tax with an FCA-authorised adviser.

Commercial property and land in a SIPP

Commercial property is not taxable property, which is why shops, offices and workshops are the usual property holdings in a SIPP. Renting back to your own company and borrowing to buy are covered for company schemes in SSAS pensions and commercial property. Two points from HMRC's manual decide whether a building stays on the right side of the line.

  • Mixed buildings. A shop with a wholly separate flat, with its own entrance and no inter-connection, is two buildings: the shop is commercial and the flat residential. If the shop and flat are inter-connected, it is one building and the whole is treated as residential.
  • Rent. A member or a sponsoring employer can rent a property owned by the pension scheme but has to pay the commercial rent. A shortfall leads to an unauthorised payment tax charge on an amount equivalent to it.

Use can change the answer: if a property becomes taxable property without any conversion or adaptation works, the scheme is treated as acquiring it at that point.

Unlisted shares and connected-party deals

On shares, the manual is plain: a registered pension scheme "may invest in equities regardless of whether or not they are quoted on a recognised stock exchange" and whether the company is in the UK or overseas. Tax law therefore does not rule out unlisted companies. Whether a provider takes them is a separate matter.

The tax trap is dealing with people close to you. If a scheme buys an asset from, or sells one to, a member, a sponsoring employer or a connected party, the price should be what would be paid between strangers. Pay too much, or sell for too little, and the difference counts as an unauthorised payment taxed at 40%. A loan from the scheme to a member is treated as an unauthorised payment in full.

Connected is wide. HMRC's definition covers a spouse or civil partner, relatives such as brothers, sisters, parents and children, the spouse of any relative, and a company the person controls, alone or with people connected to them.

Why your provider's list is shorter

HMRC sets the outer boundary and the provider sets the practical one. In its June 2026 consultation paper CP26/20 the FCA describes bespoke SIPPs, which "provide access to a wide range of asset classes, including non-mainstream and more esoteric investments", simple SIPPs that usually offer mainstream funds, more commonly for mass-market savers, and ready-made SIPPs offering "a limited range of preselected investments". The same paper proposes that SIPP operators must "ensure all investments accepted are not taxable property for the purposes of HMRC pension tax rules". The consultation closed on 24 August 2026 and the FCA aims for final rules in the first half of 2027, so this is still a proposal.

So a permitted investment may still be refused; read the provider's own investment list and terms first. Choosing a SIPP and choosing where your pension is invested cover range and cost, and pension scams lists warning signs if someone urges something unusual.

Money in a SIPP is invested, so its value can drop and the pot may be smaller than what was paid in.

Specific investments people ask about

Can I hold bonds in a SIPP?

HMRC's rules put no restriction on asset types, and its taxable property charges target homes and physical, moveable items such as art. Which bonds a SIPP buys is the provider's call; an adviser can talk a specific bond through at no cost after the form reaches them.

Can a SIPP hold gold?

Investment grade gold bullion is the named exception to the tangible moveable property rule, if it meets HMRC's purity and form test. Other forms of gold are a different question, and the provider decides whether it takes physical gold or only funds that track it.

Can I put my own home or a buy-to-let in a SIPP?

Residential property is taxable property, so buying it with SIPP money brings the charges set out above. That includes a holiday home abroad.

Will HMRC confirm an investment is allowed before I buy?

The manual says HMRC "will not give rulings on particular proposed investments" and that trustees or administrators need to reach a judgement on whether an asset is tangible moveable property, taking professional advice as appropriate. The FCA's paper notes that SIPP operators already have due diligence obligations under its high-level rules.

Before you buy something unusual

Ask the provider in writing whether it accepts the asset and what it charges to hold it. Before committing money to a building, a vehicle or a collectable, put the tax question to an FCA-authorised adviser; completing the form here costs nothing and leads to a call.

Sources: HMRC, Pensions Tax Manual (PTM027000, PTM121000, PTM122000, PTM125100, PTM125200, PTM125300, PTM125400); FCA, consultation paper CP26/20 (June 2026); read 29 October 2026. Rules and providers' lists change, so check current documents.