Companies House checks for borrower LTDs and SPVs

Start with the company record

• Status is 'Active', not 'Active – proposal to strike off', dissolved or in liquidation.
• Incorporation date. A very new SPV is normal, but note it.
• Registered office and SIC codes fit the stated purpose. Typical property SPV codes are 68100 (buying and selling own real estate), 68209 (letting and operating own or leased real estate) and 41100 (development of building projects).
• Accounts and confirmation statements are not overdue.
• Review the charges register for existing lenders' security over the company's assets.

Officers and control

• List active directors and compare them with your guarantors.
• Review persons with significant control (PSCs) and any recent changes.
• Check the filing history for recent director or PSC changes.
• Check whether each director and PSC shows as identity-verified. Identity verification was introduced under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 and is being phased in, so the absence of a verification marker may not yet mean a problem. Confirm what is currently required.

Disqualification and insolvency

• Search the disqualified directors register for every active director. It includes disqualification undertakings as well as court orders.
• Search the Individual Insolvency Register for bankruptcies, debt relief orders and individual voluntary arrangements.
• Search The Gazette for insolvency or strike-off notices about the company. These are published there, not on Companies House.

Example

An SPV set up last month has one director who also appears as a PSC, and the SIC code is for a café. The age is normal for an SPV, but the activity code doesn't fit a property purchase and is worth asking about.

Possible matches

A possible match on a disqualification or insolvency register should stop the case until it is confirmed or ruled out, for example by checking date of birth and address.