In a surprise move by Companies House, given that their fees were substantially increased just over a year ago, a press release has been issued to say that fees are rising yet again. The headline rate to form a Limited Company is doubling from £50 to £100.

Filing for all company types in the UK is set to get more expensive from the 1st of February 2026. It’s a surprising move to raise fees again, so soon after May 2024

(https://www.gov.uk/government/news/companies-house-fees-increasing-from-1-may-2024),

with the justification being that fee increases were due to the implantation of the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act. By doubling headline fees, are Companies House saying that it has been twice as expensive as expected to implement these changes?

All we can say, is that it’s another price increase that makes it that little bit harder to justify starting a business. Whilst most agree that Companies House taking a more active role in policing the information it holds is necessary, the runaway costs surely need to be looked in to.

At Small Business Software, we offer company formation software to partners that help people start companies. It is worth talking to us about how we can help you help clients mitigate these charges. We’re now looking closely at how we can help partners subsidise these charges by offering built in services and partner opportunities to your clients. If you’d like to find out more about how you can use Small Business Software to keep your prices down, please get in touch: help@sb-software.co.uk

To see the full table of fees, see here:

Changes to Companies House fees - Changes to UK company law

By Joseph Murray