Register of overseas entities

What does this mean for overseas real estate owners?

Any overseas company owning real estate after 1 January 1999 must by 31 January 2023 (the transitional period end date) have submitted its beneficial ownership information in a prescribed form through an approved UK supervised agent to Companies House.

Failure to do so is a criminal offence punishable with a fine and/or imprisonment for up to 5 years. In addition, after the end of the transitional period, a failure to be registered will lead to a late registration penalty of up to £2,500 per day.

The beneficial ownership information must be provided to Companies House about the entity, its registrable beneficial owners (including, where a registrable beneficial owner is a trustee, about the trust) and, where applicable, its managing officers. This information must be kept updated annually at Companies House.

Any overseas company buying real estate in the UK must now be registered as an overseas entity at Companies House before it can be registered at the Land Registry as a real estate owner, being a freehold or leasehold term of 7 years or more.