Company Ownership: 2026 Companies House Register Changes

Company Ownership: 2026 Companies House Register Changes

Anyone who checks a company ownership position before issuing proceedings or lending money relies on what the Companies House register shows. The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 has been reshaping that register through a series of changes running from November 2025 into 2026. For solicitors running pre-action searches, the result is a register that verifies more about the people behind a company while publishing less of their personal detail.

What company ownership records the register still holds

From 18 November 2025, companies no longer have to keep their own statutory registers of directors, directors residential addresses, secretaries or people with significant control. That information must still be filed with Companies House and kept current, so the public record of company ownership remains, held centrally rather than at the company. Directors also no longer need to state a business occupation when their appointment is registered. The option for a company to hold its officer information on the central register closed on the same date, and the equivalent option for members closed on 26 January 2026.

The register of members and company ownership after January 2026

The register of members is the primary record of legal ownership, listing the shareholders of a company. Any company that had elected to keep that register at Companies House must now create and maintain a full register of members itself, hold it at its registered office or single alternative inspection location, and make it available for public inspection. For a searcher, shareholder detail for those companies may no longer sit on the online record and may need to be inspected at the registered address. The register shows legal title only. It does not by itself reveal who benefits from the shares where nominees or trusts sit behind the named holder.

 

Personal information now suppressed from the register

The Act also lets individuals remove certain personal details from public view. From 27 January 2025, a person could apply to suppress a registered office address shown on historical documents where it was their home address. From 21 July 2025, applications extended to residential addresses shown elsewhere on the register, the day of birth on documents registered before 10 October 2015, signatures, and business occupation. Further protection is planned for people at risk of physical harm, such as survivors of domestic abuse. Home addresses and signatures that once helped confirm identity or trace an individual are steadily leaving the public file.

Identity verification and stronger transparency

Running alongside the suppression measures is identity verification. Anyone setting up, running, owning or controlling a UK company must verify their identity, with existing directors and people with significant control required to do so during a transition period that ends in November 2026. Further measures will require additional shareholder information and restrict the use of corporate directors. The direction is a register where the identities behind a company are checked more rigorously, even as some contact detail is withdrawn from open view.

How the changes affect a company ownership search

For a solicitor, the register now offers verified identities but thinner personal data and, for some companies, shareholder records held offline. A search still confirms filed appointments, filed control and legal ownership, yet a full picture of who ultimately benefits, and what they own, often lies beyond it. That gap is where an asset search and corporate intelligence earn their place, cross referencing the record against other sources to establish beneficial ownership and recoverable assets.

If you need to see past the register to the assets and people behind a company, fill in the form below to speak to the Tremark team about an asset search.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does a company ownership search still show who the shareholders are?

Yes, though not always online. Companies that kept their register of members at Companies House must now hold it at their registered office or inspection address, so shareholder detail may need to be inspected there rather than downloaded.

Can I still find a director home address on the register?

Often no. Directors can apply to suppress residential addresses and signatures from public documents, so an address on the file may be a service address rather than a home.

What does identity verification add for someone checking a company?

It gives greater confidence that the named individuals are real and connected to the company, because they have verified their identity with Companies House or through an authorised provider.