Guides
Buying through a UK company: start with its public record
Match your UK company’s public record, director and PSC verification before a French property purchase, without circulating personal filing codes.
Contents
Your emails use a trading name, the accounts show an earlier company name and the proposed French purchase is being discussed under a third spelling. Before sending the company papers to a French notaire, it is worth checking that everyone is identifying the same legal buyer. This is a document exercise, not a recommendation to buy through a company. The ownership decision needs its own legal and tax assessment.
A company number is a better starting point than a familiar name
Companies House’s public information service includes registered addresses, current and resigned officers, filed documents and previous names. Find the company actually proposed as the buyer. Keep its public record reference and the date checked, then compare that identity with the documents you intend to supply.
A name difference may have a perfectly ordinary explanation, such as a recorded change. Equally, two similar names do not establish that two documents belong to the same company. Ask for the explanation rather than editing filenames until the inconsistency disappears from view. The original document still needs to be intelligible to its reader.
A brief covering note can give the current name, registration number, an earlier name appearing in the papers and the contact who can answer company questions. This gives the notaire a clear starting point for requesting documents. It does not replace the corporate records or establish the company’s capacity to make this purchase.
Check the role, not just the statement “verified”
Current Companies House guidance treats the director role and the person with significant control, or PSC, role separately. Someone holding both has steps for each role. The relevant deadlines depend on the circumstances; there is no single deadline that can safely be copied into every company’s property timetable.
If updates are under way, ask the professional handling the company to identify what remains outstanding. A broad statement that an identity is verified can leave the person, role and filing confused. Conversely, do not read a register entry and independently conclude that it either prohibits or authorises a French acquisition. Explain what has been found and let the relevant professionals assess it.
Keep the personal code out of the property presentation
A Companies House personal code is issued following identity verification and belongs to an individual, not the company. Companies House says to keep it safe, while allowing it to be shared with someone filing on your behalf. It is not a public company identifier to include in a property brochure or a group discussion about viewings.
Separate public company information from personal verification and access information. If a request appears to involve a confidential code, ask the professional concerned to clarify the purpose and suitable channel. A request for a reference should not become an unfiltered screenshot of a signed-in account merely because that is quicker to send.
A clear UK record still leaves French questions to answer
Finding the correct public record helps identify the British company. It does not settle the French legal, funding or tax consequences of the proposed transaction. Take those questions to the notaire and appropriate advisers before describing the structure as agreed. If the buyer is still being decided, say so plainly.
You can meanwhile explain the intended use of the Burgundy property and the practical search timetable. This keeps the property discussion useful without prematurely fixing the legal purchaser. Our guide to buying through an SCI concerns a different ownership structure; an SCI should not be treated as a direct equivalent of a UK company.