Overseas Entity Property Registration Important 2023 Dates

If you own or lease property through an ‘overseas entity’, you are required to be registered with Companies House.  Read on to find out more and how we can help clients affected by overseas entity property registration.

Overseas Entity Property Registration

On 5^th September 2022, an important element of the ‘Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act 2022 (Commencement No. 3) Regulations 2022’ came into force.

Anybody looking to register a property on the Land Register have been asked to confirm if they are subject to the Register of Overseas Entities.  Most UK incorporated bodies and natural persons can answer ‘no’ and no further action is required.

However, if your answer is ‘yes’, you are required to register with Companies House as an ‘Overseas Entity’.

The legislation affects all property purchase and/or sales, along with certain property leases.

Deadline for Overseas Entity Property Registration

Entities affected by the legislation were required to be registered by 31^st January 2023. Beyond this date, you risk criminal sanctions being raised against the entity and beneficial owners.

Historical transactions also affected

What is crucial to note is that as well as new transactions, the legislation put into law a requirement for anybody who bought a property as an overseas entity to retrospectively register with Companies House, if the transaction was on or after:

• 8 December 2014 in Scotland
• 1 January 1999 in England and Wales

How do I register?

There are three key parties involved in the overseas entity property registration:

• The beneficial owner (or owners)
• The corporate structure or ‘entity’
• The agent

You first need to appoint an agent. You cannot register without an agent who is registered as such with Companies House and must be subject to the ‘Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing, and Transfer of Funds Relegations (2017).

Wallace Quinn are registered as an Agent with Companies House and as such have the necessary subject matter expertise and ability to verify information given to us by ‘overseas entities’ for properties in Scotland.

Get in touch if you need assistance

Fill in the contact us form on this page (select ‘commercial’ from the drop down list).

If you would like to speak to a solicitor, or if you are an existing client, please speak with your Wallace Quinn advisor and we’ll be able to help ensure you are compliant with the overseas entity property registration legislation.  .If you need information on commercial property, visit this page on our website.

Note that we are unable to help with properties on the England / Wales Land Registry.

More information

You can read more about the act and its obligations on the UK Government website, the Companies House website or the Register of Scotland website.