On 6 April 2026, Business Asset Disposal Relief rises from 14 per cent to 18 per cent. That is less than two weeks away. If you are an HVAC business owner who has been thinking about selling, or who is already in a sale process, this article is a practical guide to what you should be doing right now. Not a theoretical overview of the tax rules; those are covered in our companion article. This is about action.
The answer to "what should I do?" depends entirely on where you stand today. Let us address the two most common situations.
If You Have Already Started the Sale Process
If you are in active discussions with a buyer, or if heads of terms have been agreed and due diligence is under way, there may still be time to complete before 6 April. Whether that is realistic depends on several factors.
How advanced is the due diligence? If the buyer has completed their financial and legal review and the main terms are agreed, completion in the next two weeks is possible. If due diligence has barely started, it is unlikely unless both parties are willing to take an unusual level of risk.
Are the solicitors instructed and engaged? The legal documentation for a business sale, whether a share purchase agreement or an asset purchase agreement, takes time to draft, negotiate, and agree. If your solicitors are already working on this, ask them honestly whether completion before 6 April is achievable.
Is the buyer willing to accelerate? A buyer who is motivated and well-resourced may be willing to move quickly. A buyer who is stretched or cautious may not. The willingness of the other side to compress the timeline is as important as your own.
The most important thing to remember: do not accept a materially lower offer just to hit the deadline. A sale price that is £30,000 or £50,000 less because you were under time pressure will cost you far more than the £16,000 you might save on a £400,000 gain.
If completion before 6 April is realistic and achievable without compromising the deal, push for it. If it is not, accept the higher rate and focus on getting the best possible outcome. The 18 per cent rate is still a substantial relief compared to the standard 24 per cent capital gains rate. You are still paying less tax than you would without BADR.
If You Have Not Started the Sale Process
If you have been thinking about selling but have not taken any concrete steps, let us be straightforward: it is almost certainly too late to complete before 6 April 2026. A typical HVAC business sale takes four to six months from the point of instruction to completion. Even in the most favourable circumstances, compressing that into less than two weeks is not realistic.
But that does not mean the deadline is irrelevant to you. It should serve as a prompt, not a panic. The real question is not "can I beat the deadline?" but "am I going to sell at all?"
If the answer is yes, even if it is "yes, at some point in the next few years," then starting the preparation now is the right move. Not because of the tax deadline, but because preparation takes time and the better prepared your business is, the higher the price you will achieve and the smoother the process will be.
Practical Actions to Take Right Now
Whether you are trying to complete before the deadline or simply using it as the catalyst to start thinking seriously about your exit, here are the practical steps that matter.
Get Your Accounts in Order
Buyers will want to see at least three years of professionally prepared accounts. If your accounts are not up to date, or if there are unexplained adjustments or inconsistencies, address them now. Clean accounts speed up due diligence and give buyers confidence, both of which contribute to a better outcome.
List Your Maintenance Contracts
Create a comprehensive list of all your maintenance contracts: client name, contract value, contract term, renewal date, and any concentration risks (i.e., clients that represent a disproportionate share of revenue). This information is fundamental to any valuation and will be one of the first things a buyer asks for.
Assess Your Team's Qualifications
Document every engineer's qualifications: Gas Safe registration, F-Gas certification, MCS accreditation, manufacturer-specific training. Note the expiry dates and renewal status of each. A well-documented, fully qualified team is one of the most valuable assets in your business, and having this information organised demonstrates operational rigour.
Understand Your Geographic Footprint
Plot your contract postcodes on a map. Understand where your density is strongest, where the outliers are, and how your geographic coverage compares to what buyers typically look for. This information feeds directly into valuations and is easy to prepare in advance.
Consider a Confidential Valuation
A confidential valuation from a specialist broker will give you a realistic assessment of what your business is worth in the current market. It is not a commitment to sell. It is information that helps you make an informed decision about your timing and your options. If the number surprises you, in either direction, that is useful to know sooner rather than later.
Do Not Let the Deadline Paralyse You
There is a risk that the BADR deadline creates a sense of urgency that tips into panic, and panic leads to inaction. Owners who feel they have "missed the window" sometimes conclude that there is no point in doing anything now, and they defer the decision for another year, or another five years.
That would be a mistake. The BADR rate change adds 4 percentage points to your tax bill on qualifying gains. That is a real cost, but it is a modest cost relative to the overall value of a successful sale. The far bigger risk is not selling at all, or selling without proper preparation, or selling at the wrong time because you did not start the conversation soon enough.
The business owners who achieve the best outcomes are the ones who start early, prepare thoroughly, and engage with the process on their own terms. The BADR deadline is a useful prompt to start that process. It should not be the thing that stops it.
Getting Started
If the BADR deadline has made you think seriously about selling your HVAC business, whether in the near term or further out, we are here to help. A confidential conversation costs nothing, commits you to nothing, and gives you the information you need to make a good decision. The worst thing you can do is nothing. The best thing you can do is start.
