SIPP vs SSAS: a SIPP is a personal pension you open yourself, while a SSAS is a small employer scheme, usually for up to 11 members, run by its own trustees.

The two sound alike, and in both the people involved have a say over where the money goes, but they are built differently: who runs them, who can join, what they may lend and buy, and whether they register with The Pensions Regulator (TPR). Which structure fits depends on your company and your other pensions. The people best placed to say are FCA-authorised advisers, and this page's form is the free way to be rung back by one. Investments held in either can lose value, and the pot may end up smaller than the money paid in.

Who runs a SIPP, who runs a SSAS, and who the trustees are

A SIPP is a pension you open yourself with a provider, which the FCA calls a SIPP operator. CP26/20, an FCA consultation paper of June 2026 proposing new rules for those firms (comments closed on 24 August 2026), describes the market as it is now:

Over time, a significant number of SIPP operators have legitimately structured their business so that an unauthorised trustee company holds money and assets for the pension scheme.

— FCA, CP26/20 (consultation paper), June 2026, page 6

In many SIPPs, then, a trustee company holds the money and assets while the member deals with the operator; each SIPP's terms name who does what.

A SSAS turns that around. MoneyHelper says SSAS members are also typically its trustees, which means they are jointly responsible for running it, and that this often includes deciding where the money is invested. Those who benefit are, typically, those answerable for it. Firms also act as SSAS administrators and professional trustees; the duties and the firms are covered in SSAS trustees and administrators and SSAS providers, and HMRC's separate tax role of scheme administrator is explained in how to set up a SSAS.

How many people can join a SSAS, and a SIPP?

MoneyHelper's SSAS guide (October 2025 version) presents a SSAS as a choice for people running a limited company or partnership, and says "these schemes usually allow up to 11 people to join". Only a company director can set one up, usually with a regulated financial adviser's help, and the director then chooses who joins, which may include family members and other staff. The word "usually" counts: whether a larger group could join one particular scheme is something an FCA-authorised adviser will explain, free, once you complete the form. For the route in for directors, see SSAS for limited company directors.

A SIPP has no sponsoring company. On TPR's list of schemes that need not register with it are personal pension schemes, SIPPs included, "where there will only ever be one member". Holding a SIPP does not rule out a SSAS: MoneyHelper's SIPP guide says you can have as many pension schemes as you like, though each provider will typically charge you. See having more than one private pension.

Loans to the sponsoring employer: what HMRC's manual says

This is where a SSAS is most different: an occupational scheme can lend to its sponsoring employer, within strict rules. In HMRC's Pensions Tax Manual (PTM123200, updated 17 November 2021), five tests decide whether a loan is authorised: security, interest rate, term, maximum amount and repayment terms. A loan that fails one or more of them produces an unauthorised payment.

If an occupational pension scheme makes a loan to a sponsoring employer the amount of the loan must be secured throughout the full term as a first charge on any asset either owned by the sponsoring employer, or some other person. At the time the loan is made the security used must be of at least equal value to the face value of the loan including interest.

There must be no other charge on the asset that takes priority over the charge made by the scheme.

— HMRC, Pensions Tax Manual PTM123200, Security

The repayment period of the loan must not be longer than five years from the date the loan was made.

— HMRC, PTM123200, Term of loan

Section 179(1)(a) Finance Act 2004 restricts the amount of a loan which can be made to a sponsoring employer to 50% of the aggregate of the amount of the cash sums held and the net market value of the assets of the registered pension scheme valued immediately before the loan is made.

— HMRC, PTM123200, Maximum amount of loan

The other two tests are on the same manual page. Interest must be at least the rate set by regulations, which is worked out from 1% above the average base lending rate of six named high street banks. Repayments of capital and interest must fall due at least in equal instalments for every complete loan year. Any part of a loan over the 50% limit is itself an unauthorised payment. If capital or interest is still owed when the term ends (HMRC's example is an employer in genuine difficulty), the repayment date can be rolled over for up to a further five years, but a loan may be rolled over only once. Every worked example in the manual charges the employer 40% on the unauthorised amount and leaves the administrator facing a scheme sanction charge as well.

A SIPP is not an occupational scheme, so it has no sponsoring employer, and HMRC says that in a scheme that is not occupational, any loan to an employer connected to the member attracts a tax charge on the member. Borrowing against a pension more generally is in borrowing against a pension. Weighing up a loan from your own scheme to your company? Leave your details here: how each of the five tests would bite on that loan can be checked, without charge, by the FCA-authorised adviser whose call follows.

Commercial property in a SIPP or a SSAS

Both can hold commercial property. MoneyHelper lists commercial property and land among SIPP investments, bought by yourself or collectively with others, and says a SSAS can buy your business property so that your rental payments go back to the scheme, which can also borrow with a mortgage to fund the purchase. For both, HMRC's taxable-property rules matter. If an investment-regulated scheme acquires residential property or tangible moveable property, directly or indirectly, HMRC counts it as an unauthorised payment charged on the member whose arrangement acquires it, plus a scheme sanction charge for the administrator.

The investment-regulated test differs by scheme type. An occupational scheme such as a SSAS is caught when, with under 50 members, it has at least one who is or has been able, directly or indirectly, to direct, influence or advise on how its investments are made. A non-occupational scheme such as a SIPP is caught when a member is or has been able to do the same for investments held for their own arrangement. Either way, a person related to the member can meet the condition too.

Whether a building counts as residential can turn on detail. HMRC treats a shop with a wholly separate flat above it (a separate entrance and no inter-connection) as two buildings: the shop is commercial, but the flat is residential property. A shop with an inter-connected flat is a single building, and the whole of it is treated as residential. The detail for each type is in SSAS commercial property and what a SIPP can invest in.

Registering with TPR: where a SSAS and a SIPP part ways

Both kinds of scheme need HMRC registration first (see SIPP registration with HMRC), and TPR warns HMRC's checks can take up to six months; TPR registers a scheme only after that. Its rule is that an HMRC-registered workplace (occupational) pension with more than one member must also be registered with TPR. The deadline is three months from the date the scheme first meets the criteria, it is a legal requirement, and trustees or scheme managers risk a fine if late. So the duty turns on membership, though TPR asks every scheme it contacts to answer its eligibility questions, and a scheme that becomes registrable later, say because members join, should contact TPR then. One-member personal pension schemes, SIPPs included, need not register.

A registered scheme then files a scheme return when TPR sends a notice. For an occupational defined contribution scheme with fewer than 12 members, TPR's current pattern is one every three years (every year with 12 or more), and it says it may change how often it asks. The setting-up steps are in how to set up a SSAS.

SSAS pros and cons, and the risks

MoneyHelper sees the main benefit of a SSAS over other types of pension scheme as the range of investment options open to the trustees: buying the business's property so rent comes back to the scheme, buying company shares, and lending to the business. The downsides follow from the same freedom. The members, as trustees, share responsibility for running the scheme; loans and property must pass HMRC's tests above; and the same guide notes that SSAS schemes sit outside Financial Conduct Authority regulation, which is why scammers will often use them to access scam investments. Warning signs are in pension scams. A few large assets, or a loan to one company, concentrate risk too; one reason HMRC gives for the 50% cap is that it may not be prudent to lend scheme funds to one company. Compare charges using pension charges and fees, choosing a SIPP and SSAS providers.

SIPP and SSAS questions people ask

What does SSAS stand for?

Small self-administered scheme. MoneyHelper describes it as an option for owners of a limited company or partnership.

Is a SSAS a personal pension?

No. HMRC's guidance describes an occupational pension scheme as one set up by an employer for their employees, which is how a SSAS is built. A SIPP is a personal pension.

Can I have a SSAS and a SIPP?

Yes, there is no limit on the number of schemes, though each may charge you. Whether holding both makes sense for your pots is a point to raise on a call-back.

Who pays into a SSAS?

Usually the company, with regular or occasional payments it can deduct against its profits, subject to certain conditions, MoneyHelper says. Employees may pay in but do not have to, and money in existing pensions can be moved across if the SSAS accepts transfers.

Do a SIPP and a SSAS both get tax relief?

Both can, once registered: HMRC's guidance says a scheme must be registered with it to benefit from pension tax reliefs, and contributions received before registration is confirmed do not qualify. How relief is given is in pension tax relief.

Your next step

If you run a company and are weighing a SIPP against a SSAS, the answer turns on your numbers, your co-members and what the scheme would do. Torn between the two? A few lines in this page's short form let an FCA-authorised adviser phone with answers, free. The wider picture of pension types is in pensions explained.

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