- Only limited companies and LLPs must register with Companies House, while sole traders and ordinary partnerships register with HMRC instead.
- Registering a company now costs £100 to file online, and all new directors and PSCs must verify their identity before they can be appointed.
- You can check the free Companies House register at any time to confirm whether your business or company name is already listed.
No, not all companies have to register with Companies House. Only limited companies and limited liability partnerships (LLPs) must register, while sole traders and ordinary partnerships register with HMRC instead and never appear on the Companies House register at all.
If you want to form a company properly and have the whole process handled for you, you can register your company with the new identity checks included.
Which side of the line you fall on depends entirely on your business structure, and getting it wrong can mean either an obligation you’ve missed or a step you never needed to take.
Who must register with Companies House, and who doesn’t
Limited companies, LLPs, and limited partnerships must register with Companies House. Sole traders and ordinary partnerships do not, although they still have to register with HMRC for tax.
The table below shows where each common business type stands. Use it to find your situation, then read the short explanation for your type below.
Business type | Companies House registration required? | HMRC registration required? | Public record? |
Sole trader | No | Yes, for Self Assessment | No |
Ordinary partnership | No | Yes, partnership and partners | No |
Limited company | Yes | Yes, for Corporation Tax | Yes |
Limited liability partnership (LLP) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Limited partnership | Yes | Yes | Yes |
CIC (community interest company) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Charity (unincorporated) | No, unless structured as a company | Varies | Varies |
The pattern is simple. If your structure carries the word “limited” or “LLP”, you register with Companies House. If it doesn’t, you usually don’t.
Do sole traders register with Companies House?
Sole traders do not register with Companies House, and there is no version of sole trader status that puts you on the register. Instead, you register with HMRC for Self Assessment so you can report your income and pay tax.
This is the single most common point of confusion at the formation stage. Being self-employed and being a registered company are two different things, and a sole trader is the former without being the latter.
If you’re weighing up whether to stay a sole trader or form a company, the sole trader vs limited company comparison covers the tax and liability trade-offs in full. For a plain explanation of the structure itself, see the guide to operating as a sole trader.
You only move onto the Companies House register if you decide to incorporate. Many sole traders never do, and that is a perfectly valid way to run a business.
What does being registered with Companies House actually mean?
Being registered with Companies House means your company exists as a legal entity and its core details sit on a public register that anyone can search. This is the trade-off for the limited liability and credibility that incorporation gives you.
Once registered, the following information becomes part of the public record:
- The company name, registration number, and registered office address
- The names of directors and people with significant control (PSCs)
- Annual accounts and confirmation statements
- The nature of the business, shown through its SIC code
This transparency is the point of the register, not a side effect. It lets customers, suppliers, and lenders verify that a company is real and see who stands behind it.
How to check if your company is already registered
You can check whether a company is registered by searching the free Companies House register online, which lists every company currently or previously on the register. The search is free and returns results instantly.
This is the quickest way to settle the “is my company on Companies House?” question. If you’ve formed a company and it appears with an active status, you’re registered. If you search your trading name and nothing comes up, you’re almost certainly operating as a sole trader.
For a walkthrough of how to run a search and read the results, see the guide to search the Companies House register.
Search your exact company name in quotation marks first. A near-match result is often a different company with a similar name, which is exactly the mix-up that sends people down the wrong path.
What registering with Companies House involves now
Registering a company now costs £100 to file online and requires every new director and PSC to verify their identity before they can be appointed. Both of these are recent changes, so older guidance you may have read is likely out of date.
The current Companies House fees
The fees below took effect on 1 February 2026 and apply to every new incorporation from that date.
Filing | Digital fee | Paper fee |
Incorporation | £100 | £124 |
Same-day incorporation | £156 (software) | Not available |
Confirmation statement (annual) | £50 | £110 |
Voluntary strike-off | £13 | £44 |
Digital filing is now markedly cheaper than paper across the board, which is a deliberate push towards online submission.
Mandatory identity verification
Identity verification is now mandatory for company registration. Since 18 November 2025, all new directors and PSCs must verify their identity before they can be appointed, either through GOV.UK One Login or an authorised agent.
Existing directors and PSCs of companies already on the register have until 18 November 2026 to complete their verification. If you run a company that was formed before the rules came in, this is a deadline worth diarising now rather than leaving to the last minute.
What happens if you don’t register when you should
If you trade as a limited company without actually registering it, you are not a limited company at all and you don’t have limited liability. You’re operating as a sole trader or partnership in law, with full personal liability for the business’s debts.
This matters most for people who believe they’ve “set up a company” but have only registered a business name or a domain. Neither of those is a Companies House registration.
The risks of getting this wrong include:
- No limited liability, so your personal assets are exposed if the business is sued or can’t pay its debts
- Using “Ltd” or “Limited” in your name unlawfully, which is an offence
- Invoicing or contracting as an entity that doesn’t legally exist
- Missing Corporation Tax obligations you assumed were being handled
If you genuinely want the protection a limited company gives, the fix is to incorporate properly rather than imply a status you don’t hold.
How to register your company correctly
To register correctly, you file an incorporation application with Companies House, supply your directors and PSCs, pass identity verification, and pay the £100 fee. You can do this yourself or have a formation provider handle the whole process.
Rather than repeat every step here, the full checklist for setting up a limited company walks through what to prepare and the order to do it in. At a high level, you’ll choose and check your company name, decide on directors, shareholders, and PSCs, sort your registered office and SIC code, complete identity verification, then file and pay.
If you’d rather not navigate the new verification regime alone, a company formation package bundles the filing, the fee, and the supporting documents into one process. The business registration documents guide explains exactly what you’ll need to have ready before you start.
How Sleek helps with registering at Companies House
Working out whether you need to register is the easy part. Doing it correctly, with the new identity checks and the right details on the public record from day one, is where most people want a hand.
LTD Companies handles the full incorporation for you, including identity verification for directors and PSCs and the Companies House fee, so your company is set up properly the first time. If you’ve realised you do need to register, there’s no reason to wrestle with the process alone.
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FAQs on registering with Companies House
Does a dormant company stay on Companies House?
Yes. A dormant company remains on the Companies House register for as long as it exists, even when it isn’t trading. It still has to file confirmation statements and dormant accounts each year. To remove it from the register entirely, you’d apply for a voluntary strike-off, which now costs £13 to file online.
Do charities have to register with Companies House?
It depends on their structure. A charity set up as an unincorporated association or trust does not register with Companies House, only with the Charity Commission. A charity structured as a charitable company or a CIC does register with Companies House, because the company part of its structure requires it. Many charities sit in the first group.
Can I run a business without registering at all?
Yes, if you operate as a sole trader. You can trade under your own name or a business name without any Companies House registration, provided you register with HMRC for Self Assessment and pay tax on your profits. You only need Companies House if you choose to incorporate as a company or LLP.
Is being on Companies House the same as registering with HMRC?
No. They are two separate registrations with two different bodies. Registering a limited company with Companies House creates the legal entity, but you still register separately with HMRC for Corporation Tax. Sole traders skip Companies House entirely and register only with HMRC, which is why the two are so often confused.
How long does company registration take?
Online incorporation is usually completed within 24 hours once your application and identity verification are submitted, and often the same working day. Paper applications take considerably longer, typically eight to ten days. The identity verification step can add time if it isn’t done in advance, so completing it early keeps the process quick.
Do I need a registered office address to register?
Yes. Every company on the register must have a registered office address in the UK, and it has to be a physical address rather than a PO box. This address appears on the public record. Many people use a service address instead of their home to keep their private address off the register.
What’s the difference between registering a company and registering a business name?
Registering a company at Companies House creates a legal entity with limited liability. Registering or trademarking a business name does neither on its own. A sole trader can use a business name freely without any Companies House involvement, so a registered name is not the same as a registered company.
