ECCT Act: UK Companies House Changes Explained

It helps to start with a simple question: what is Companies House actually for? On 11 June 2026, Companies House published its third annual progress report on the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023, covering the period from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026. The message from the report is that the UK company register is being pushed away from being a place that merely stores filings and towards being a public record that is checked more actively. (gov.uk) If you buy from a company, work for one, invest in one or simply want to know who is really behind it, that matters. The register shapes everyday decisions, from credit checks to purchasing. When the information on it is weak, false companies, sham appointments and hijacked addresses become much easier to hide in plain sight. A cleaner register will not fix economic crime on its own, but it gives the public, businesses and investigators a better starting point. (gov.uk)

The biggest practical shift is this: Companies House now has more room to question what it is given. Under the reform timetable set out by the government, new powers began on 4 March 2024, allowing the registrar to query and reject filings suspected to be wrong or fraudulent, remove more inaccurate information, compare data against other datasets and share more information with law enforcement and regulators. The same reforms also tightened the rules on registered office addresses, including banning PO Boxes and similar services where they do not meet the test of an appropriate address. (gov.uk) **What this means for you:** filing company information is less of a box-ticking exercise than it used to be. If a business gives a misleading address or submits information that looks false, Companies House has more legal cover to intervene. That should, in practice, make fake corporate identities harder to keep alive for long periods, especially when the data can be matched with HMRC, the Insolvency Service and other bodies. (gov.uk)

The part most people will notice first is identity verification. According to Companies House, nearly 4 million individuals had verified their identities and linked their appointments after mandatory identity verification began in November 2025. New directors and people with significant control, often shortened to PSCs, must verify their identity, while existing directors and PSCs are going through a 12-month transition period. Verification can be done directly through GOV.UK One Login or through an Authorised Corporate Service Provider, such as an accountant or solicitor who is properly registered. (gov.uk) **What this means for you:** the system is moving away from simply accepting a name on a form. If you run a company, advise one or hope to set one up, you now need to expect proof-of-identity checks as part of normal compliance. Companies House says missing identity verification requirements can amount to an offence, can lead to financial penalties and can block a person from filing for a company or starting a new one. The next stage is still to come for people who file documents on behalf of companies, with that requirement due no earlier than November 2026. (changestoukcompanylaw.campaign.gov.uk)

The headline numbers in the latest report show why officials are talking about progress rather than just plans. Since March 2024, Companies House says 151,000 company addresses have been removed from the register, a step aimed at protecting people whose addresses were used without consent. The same report says joint work with law enforcement partners has led to millions of pounds in suspected criminal proceeds being seized. (gov.uk) This is the point where an administrative reform becomes easier to picture. For an ordinary person, it can mean not finding your home address attached to a company you have never heard of. For investigators, it can mean fewer false trails and better chances of spotting where corporate structures are being used to create a fake UK presence. That is not theoretical: on 9 June 2026, the Insolvency Service said two more companies had been shut down after being linked to a model that had given more than 12,000 overseas clients a misleading UK business presence. (gov.uk)

The next phase goes beyond company directors and addresses. Companies House says it is also working on stronger transparency for the Register of Overseas Entities and a more systematic, intelligence-led approach to enforcement. That matters because overseas entities that want to buy, sell or transfer land in the UK must register with Companies House and disclose their beneficial owners or managing officers, with update statements filed every year. The aim is to make it harder to hide ownership behind offshore structures while holding UK property. (gov.uk) **What this means for you:** if you care about housing, corruption or who really owns valuable assets, this is not just paperwork for specialists. Property has long been one of the places where hidden ownership can sit comfortably unless the state insists on disclosure and checks. Better overseas entity data will not answer every question, but it should make anonymous ownership harder to defend. (gov.uk)

There is another change worth watching because it shows how wide this law really is. On 9 June 2026, the government confirmed that Companies House accounts filing reforms will start from April 2028. All companies will need to file accounts through commercial software, and small companies and micro-entities will have to file profit and loss accounts, although they can choose not to have those accounts published. (gov.uk) For students, young founders and anyone learning how business rules work, this is a useful reminder that the ECCT Act is not only about catching obvious fraud. It is also about building a more digital, checkable record over time: who is in control, who has verified their identity, what information can be challenged and how financial information reaches the register. In other words, the law is changing both the gate at the front and the paperwork inside. (gov.uk)

The Common Room test for all of this is a simple one: does the system become easier to trust without becoming impossibly hard for honest people to use? So far, the official evidence points to real movement. The 11 June 2026 report shows large-scale identity checks, address removals and closer work with enforcement partners, and the government says annual progress reports will continue until 2030. (gov.uk) But it is also worth keeping your critical thinking switched on. A stronger register is only as good as the follow-through behind it. What matters next is whether false companies are stopped earlier, whether overseas ownership becomes clearer and whether legitimate businesses can comply without getting lost in new rules. That is the practical question behind all the official language about transparency: can you trust the name on the register a little more than before? (gov.uk)