Changes at Companies House Which Will Affect Your Company

To tackle economic crime and improve the transparency of businesses, the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 has introduced a range of measures.

The Act became law in October 2023 and the first set of changes came into force on 4 March 2024. These include new powers that give Companies House the ability to play a greater role in tackling financial crime. 

It also introduces measures to stop limited partnerships being abused, gives law enforcement agencies extra powers to seize cryptoassets and gather intelligence, and makes it easier for businesses to share information to tackle economic crime.

The changes to Companies House implemented by the Act are designed to make the information stored about businesses on its registers more accurate and trustworthy, and lead to greater transparency. They include the requirement for company directors and others involved in businesses to verify their identity, which will be introduced later in 2024. 

There will also be greater protection for personal information held on the Companies House register to make it harder to use for fraud. This will come into force over the next two years.

The Act gives Companies House greater investigation and enforcement powers and makes it easier for the agency to share information with partners such as law enforcement agencies.

As a business, you’ll now need to:

• have an ‘appropriate address’ as your registered office, where a document could be delivered and reach someone acting for the company, and be recorded as being delivered. This means you can’t use a PO Box

• confirm you’re forming the company for lawful purposes when you register it

• be prepared to deal with more queries from the registrar about potentially inconsistent or incorrect information

• be more careful about using a company name that could give a false impression to members of the public

• make sure you respond to any formal requests for more information or you could face penalties, including a fine or prosecution

• provide a registered email address and confirm that your future business activities will be lawful on your annual confirmation statement.

New Companies House Fees

The new fees, which will apply from 1 May 2024, include:

• £50 for digital incorporation (the process by which your business is registered as a limited company) – up from £12

• £50 for incorporation using software – up from £10

• £78 for same-day incorporation using software – up from £30

• £34 to file a confirmation statement digitally or using software – up from £13

• £62 to file a confirmation statement on paper – up from £40

• £30 to change your business name on paper – up from £10

• £20 to change your business name digitally – up from £8

While these increases are significant, Companies House says its fees are lower than the global average, they haven’t changed since 2016 and it doesn’t make a profit from its fees.

We have sent this update to our clients with additional details about our updated register for approval and signing, reimbursement of Companies House fees, and response/action times.