Companies House identity checks for landlord companies: an agency workflow
Applies to United Kingdom. This is general information, not legal advice — check the primary legislation or take advice before acting on a specific case.
When a limited company owns a managed property, add Companies House identity verification to the entity-onboarding record. Confirm the company number, list its current directors and people with significant control, note the relevant dates and record any gap that the landlord company must resolve. This is a company-governance check, not a licence for the agency to collect personal codes or file on the company's behalf without clear authority.
Identity verification has been a legal requirement since 18 November 2025. Existing directors provide their Companies House personal code as part of the company's next confirmation statement. PSCs follow separate 14-day windows, even where the same person is both a director and a PSC. The current Companies House timing guidance sets out those role-specific routes.
Start with the landlord entity in the agreement
Match the company named as landlord against the Companies House register. Record its exact registered name and company number, then compare the current officers and PSCs with the contacts supplied to the agency. A trading name, property SPV and parent company are not interchangeable. If the tenancy or management agreement names one entity while rent or instructions come from another, stop and have the contracting position confirmed.
The nearest Tekniti checklist covers the separate future rental-property registration process. Use the rental-property registration checklist for that task. Companies House identity verification answers a different question: whether the people running or controlling a UK company have completed the company-register process for each relevant role.
Map each person to each company role
Build the check around roles, not just names. Companies House says a director must provide a personal code for each company they direct. A person who is both a director and PSC of the same company must connect the verified identity separately to both roles. Completing the director step does not complete the PSC step.
New companies provide each director's personal code during incorporation. A person appointed as a director after the requirement began must verify before acting. For an existing company, the director step is tied to the next confirmation statement. Record which route applies rather than using a single portfolio-wide deadline.
Track the PSC window separately
Every PSC has a 14-day period in which to provide a personal code and verification statement. For someone who is both director and PSC, that period starts the day after the company's confirmation-statement date. Filing the confirmation statement early does not move the PSC window.
An existing PSC who is not also a director uses the first 14 days of their birth month. A PSC added after 18 November 2025 can provide the code when first added to the register or within 14 days. The official PSC service guidance says the register shows the relevant dates and allows a 14-day extension request before the deadline has passed.
Do not store a personal code in an ordinary landlord contact note. Ask the company or its professional adviser to complete the Companies House step, then record the outcome needed for the agency's onboarding or review. If the agency has a genuine filing role, define who is authorised, where sensitive details are held and how access is controlled.
Use the correct verification route
An individual can verify directly through GOV.UK One Login or use an Authorised Corporate Service Provider, commonly an accountant or solicitor. The official verification guidance explains the accepted routes and links to the current list of authorised providers. Verification is personal; the resulting code may then need to be connected to several company roles.
A letting agency is not automatically an authorised Companies House agent because it manages property or carries out other landlord checks. Companies House says businesses that verify clients' identities must be registered as an ACSP. Keep the agency workflow to checking, reminding and escalating unless a separately approved service and authority cover filing or verification.
Keep a reviewable company record
| Section | What to retain |
|---|---|
| Company | Registered name, company number and the landlord entity named in the management agreement. |
| Roles | Current directors and PSCs, including anyone who holds both roles. |
| Deadline | Confirmation-statement date and each applicable PSC 14-day window. |
| Evidence | Register status or written confirmation received, with the date checked. |
| Exception | Missing, disputed or overdue item, owner, next action and escalation date. |
The record should let another team member see what was checked and what still needs action. Avoid a bare tick box. A dated register check, the relevant role, the company's response and an exception owner make the status understandable without copying unnecessary identity documents.
Put checks at the points when company details can change
Run the first check before accepting management instructions from a new corporate landlord. Repeat it when the company changes director, PSC, registered name or controlling contact, and during a planned annual entity review. A confirmation-statement reminder is useful because it is the route through which existing directors provide their codes, but PSC deadlines still need their own fields.
Link the record to payment-change controls. A new director or contact asking the agency to redirect funds is not verified merely because their name appears in an email. Use the bank-detail change verification workflow to confirm the instruction through an independent channel.
Escalate overdue or conflicting status
Do not let an agency note imply that the agency has made a legal determination about whether someone may act as a director. Record the facts found, pause high-risk changes and send the issue to the landlord company, its company-secretarial adviser or the agency's legal adviser. The management agreement should determine what the agency may suspend while authority is unclear.
The requirement is being enforced. In September 2026, the Insolvency Service announced the first convictions for identity-verification offences. Its official enforcement notice says directors who continue acting without verification risk investigation and prosecution, and describes a director's responsibility to prevent an unverified individual from continuing to act.
Keep future filing rules out of today's checklist
Companies House is phasing the wider reforms. Its transition plan says compulsory identity verification for people filing any document, and the requirement for third-party filers to be registered as ACSPs, are expected no earlier than November 2027 with at least six months' notice. Those future changes should not be presented as current duties in an October 2026 workflow.
Review the official guidance before each process update. The identity rules apply across the United Kingdom, while the property-management tasks around them may differ by tenancy and jurisdiction. For non-resident owners, keep the company check separate from the tax process in the Non-resident Landlords Scheme workflow.
Tekniti's letting agency workflows can help teams keep entity checks, reminders and exceptions visible across a portfolio. The useful outcome is a dated record with a responsible person and a clear escalation route. Software should not submit a personal code, verify an individual or give legal clearance automatically.
Tekniti runs this work for UK landlords and letting agencies — tracking it, preparing it, and holding what matters for a person to approve. See how it works for landlords or for letting agencies, or write to hello@tekniti.ai.