Trade or investment?

I have a newly formed limited company client (Company A) which purchases properties and rents them out. The company has no other source of income.

What I am unsure of is how the profits should be charged to corporation tax. It seems to me that the company is not really carrying on a trade so should it be classed as an investment company for tax purposes so that there is no eligibility to the small companies corporation tax rate of 20% and it immediately pays the main rate of 26%?

Just to add to my current confusion within the past year I have also taken on another recently formed company as a new client.

This one (Company B) operates on a similar line to Company A above but it tends to purchase run-down properties and then renovates them and either sells them at a profit...