Leasehold Property law. Personally delivered.
Leasehold Property law. Personally delivered.
If you are a director of your building's freehold company you must verify your identity with Companies House. The transition period closes in November 2026.
Reviewed 25 July 2026
Most leaseholder directors do not think of themselves as company directors. Companies House does — and there is a deadline.
Under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023, company directors and people with significant control must verify their identity with Companies House. It has been mandatory for new appointments since 18 November 2025. Existing directors are in a transition period that closes in November 2026, and must verify by the date of their next confirmation statement.
When leaseholders buy their building's freehold, somebody agrees to be a director — usually whoever was willing at the time. Little has happened since: a confirmation statement each year, perhaps dormant accounts, and otherwise silence. Those directors are caught by the new requirement in exactly the same way as the director of a trading business, and are far less likely to have heard about it.
The same applies to right to manage companies and resident management companies.
Directly, through GOV.UK One Login and the ID Check app, or in person at a Post Office. Alternatively an authorised corporate service provider can verify you. Each verified person is given a personal code, which then has to be quoted on certain filings.
Acting as an unverified director is an offence, and both the individual and the company are exposed to penalties. The more immediate problem is practical: filings become difficult to make, and a company that stops filing is eventually struck off.
For a freehold company, that is not a paperwork problem. On dissolution the company's property vests in the Crown as bona vacantia — and that includes the freehold of your building. Recovering it means restoring the company or buying the freehold back from the Crown. Neither is quick or cheap, and it happens more often than it should.
Check Companies House for who is recorded as a director and person with significant control of your freehold company. The register is often out of date.
Find out when the next confirmation statement is due — that is your effective deadline.
Have every director and PSC verify, and keep the personal codes with the company's papers.
Correct anything on the register that is wrong before you file.
If you are not sure who is registered, whether your company is up to date, or what to do about a company that has already been struck off, we can check the position and put it right.
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This article reflects our understanding of the position on 25 July 2026 and is general information rather than legal advice. The law in this area is changing: take advice on your own circumstances before relying on it.
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