On 19 December 2024 The Companies and Limited Liability Partnerships (Protection and Disclosure of Information and Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2024 were made, alongside the publication of an Explanatory Memorandum.

These Regulations will come into force on 27 January 2025 and widen the circumstances in which individuals can apply to protect their usual residential address (“URA”) from appearing on the companies register. Specifically, under the current legislation an individual’s address can be protected in a range of circumstances but not where that address is currently or was formerly used as a company’s registered office address (“ROA”). This will change under the new Regulations such that an individual can apply to protect an address where it was previously used as a company’s ROA (although not where it is used as a company’s current ROA).

The Regulations also allow the registrar to disclose a protected address that was used as a ROA by a dissolved company at the point of dissolution to persons listed under s.1029 of the Companies Act 2006, being the persons eligible to apply to Court to restore a dissolved company to the register (for example former creditors and persons with a potential legal claim against the company). This change has been made to prevent the frustration of restoration proceedings as the Court form for restoration applications requires the dissolved company’s ROA.

A person may also apply to protect their URA where it was used as a ROA by a dissolved company at the point of dissolution, provided the company has been dissolved for six months. This will also limit the frustration of restoration proceedings.

The Regulations also amend the provisions governing limited liability partnerships (“LLPs”) to ensure that the framework for LLPs remains in parallel with that for companies.

These Regulations follow the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023, which reformed the role and powers of the registrar (carried out by Companies House) to include the prevention of abuse of personal information on the companies register, and aim to improve the balance between the key principle that individual directors should have their details at Companies House to enable them to be held to account for the company’s affairs and the increased risk of harm to such individuals by publishing this information.

Companies House will update its guidance on protecting personal information on the companies register ahead of the Regulations coming into force.

If you would like to discuss these changes in further detail, please speak to your usual contact at Burges Salmon or contact Charlotte Hamilton, AJ Venter or Nick Graves, head of the firm's Corporate Department.