Glossary · UK
What is Companies House?
The UK's registrar of companies, an executive agency of government that incorporates limited companies, LLPs and other legal entities and maintains their public statutory records.
Full Definition
Companies House is the UK government agency responsible for incorporating and dissolving limited companies, registering the information companies are legally required to disclose, and making that information available to the public. Every UK limited company, limited liability partnership and certain other entity types must be registered with Companies House, providing details such as its registered office address, director and person with significant control information, share capital structure, and its annual confirmation statement, plus annual accounts (which for small and micro-entities can be filed in an abbreviated format). From 2024 onwards, the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act has given Companies House new powers to verify the identity of directors, people with significant control and those filing on a company's behalf, and to more actively query or reject suspicious filings, as part of a wider crackdown on the use of UK companies for fraud and money laundering; identity verification became a legal requirement for new and existing directors and PSCs through 2025 and 2026. Failure to file a confirmation statement or annual accounts on time can result in escalating late filing penalties, and persistent failure can lead to a company being struck off the register (dissolved) and its remaining assets becoming bona vacantia (passing to the Crown).