Companies House accounts filing changes

Accounts filing reform is on the way for those landlords who have incorporated their property investment businesses. 

The government announced on 9 June 2026 some long-expected reforms which will become important for all those landlords with property companies. 

Companies House has confirmed how a major package of accounts-filing reforms will work in practice and when they will come in. On 9 June 2026, the companies’ registrar announced that small companies and micro-entities* will be required to file a profit and loss account for the first time but will also be able to opt out of having it published openly on the public register – in the public domain. 

* Micro-entities are the smallest category of companies and are eligible to use the most streamlined reporting standards. To qualify as a micro-entity, a business must meet at least two of the following criteria: (1) Annual Turnover: £1 million or less; (2) a Balance Sheet total of £500,000 or less, (3) employees of 10 or fewer.

Small companies are slightly larger businesses that are exempt from full statutory audits and can file simpler, "filleted" accounts with Companies House. To qualify as a small company, a business must exceed the micro-entity thresholds but meet at least two of the following conditions: (1) Annual Turnover of £10.2 million or less, (2) a Balance Sheet Total of £5.1 million or less, and (3) Employees of 50 or fewer.

Software filing only

Every company will also need to move to software-only filing for its accounts. The package was originally due to take effect in April 2027 but it has now been delayed until April 2028, to give companies more time to prepare.

For the growing number of small-scale landlords who hold property through a limited company, this is worth understanding now. It will alter what your accountant files, what the public can see about your company, and the form in which your accounts are sent to Companies House.

Disclaimer: The information provided in this article is for general information purposes only. The content does not constitute, and should not be relied upon, as legal, financial, or tax advice. While we try to keep the information up to date and correct, it changes frequently. We make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness or accuracy of this information. Always consult a qualified solicitor or professional advisor before making any decisions or not. 

The rise and rise of the landlord limited company

Before we get into the details, it’s worth reflecting on why this reform affects so many landlords. A decade ago, holding rental property within a limited company was mostly confined to much larger portfolio operators.  

Today, since the phased withdrawal of full mortgage interest relief for individual landlords under Section 24 of the Finance (No. 2) Act 2015, incorporation has become the default route for many new buy-to-let purchases.

The scale of the shift is such that 2025 was a record year for landlord incorporations, with approaching 70,000 new buy-to-let companies formed. The momentum has continued into 2026, with several hundred thousand active new buy-to-let companies on the register.

The appeal is obvious: a company isn’t subject to the Section 24 restrictions, so mortgage interest remains deductible rather than reduced to a 20 per cent tax credit, and corporation tax rates (19 per cent to £50,000, 25 per cent above £250,000) can compare very favourably with higher-rate income tax. 

Most landlord companies are set up as a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) under an appropriate Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code such as 68209*. Incorporation isn’t always right for everyone because it has other CGT, SDLT and refinancing considerations. The details go beyond the scope of this article so landlords considering this should seek professional advice.

However, a great many readers now operate through exactly the kind of small or micro-entity company this reform will affect in the future.

* SIC code 68209 corresponds to the "Letting and operating of owned or leased real estate" and is primarily used by real estate businesses and investors operating in the UK. It includes Buy-to-Let Property: Buying and holding residential or commercial properties to rent out (e.g., houses, flats, HMOs), Commercial Leasing: Renting out self-owned or leased non-residential buildings such as offices or industrial units; and Mobile Homes: Letting residential mobile homes.

What’s changing?

There are three connected reforms:

Profit and loss accounts will become mandatory, but publication in the public domain is optional. Currently, small companies and micro-entities are not required to file a P&L at all. They only need an abridged balance sheet, what’s commonly known by accountants as “filleted” filing. 

From April 2028, both these entities must prepare and file a P&L. But smaller companies will be able to opt out of having it appear on the public register. This is to address the most consistent objection raised by owners, that publishing turnover and profit exposes smaller, owner-managed companies to more commercial risk than is the case for larger companies.

Abridged (simplified) accounts will disappear entirely. There will be just two filing categories for micro-entity and small companies, each with a prescribed format, but no simplification within them.

All companies will move to software-only filing. Every company will file accounts electronically in iXBRL format* using commercial software, with the current Companies House WebFiling and paper routes closing specifically for account submissions.

These reforms go back to the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023, which gave Companies House new powers to improve the reliability of the register. It’s partly in response to concerns about UK companies being used to facilitate fraud.

* iXBRL (Inline eXtensible Business Reporting Language) is a file format used to submit digital financial and tax reports which combines standard web HTML with machine-readable "tags". This allows the document to be read by both humans in a standard web browser and as a printable report or directly by computer. It enables the authorities to automate processing. 

The opt-out

If you are privacy-conscious, this is good news. You probably don’t want your neighbours knowing all your business. For most landlords, the opt-out is the detail that matters most. 

Companies House, HMRC and law enforcement will obviously have full access to a company’s P&L regardless of whether it’s published, so this change affects only what competitors, tenants or anyone else searching the public register on Companies House can see.

The mechanics of how a company processes the opt-out haven’t yet been published. Companies House says further detail will follow in due course. It’s worth watching guidance over the coming months.

Preparing the profit and loss account

A profit and loss account is a summary of income and expenditure over the financial year, arriving at a single bottom-line figure. For a typical landlord company, that means rental income at the top, followed by all the costs, mortgage interest, agent fees, repairs, insurance and accountancy costs, before calculating the annual profit. The detail required depends on size, small or micro-entity. 

There’s no legal requirement to use an accountant, though most landlords operating a limited company will do so. For a company with straightforward income and a handful of expenses, self-filing isn’t impossible in principle, but most directors will be better off if it’s only for tax advice if they use an accountant.

 Statutory accounts are prepared on an accruals basis, which means the matching of income and expenditure to the time periods to which they relate. That’s different to cash accounting or a cash-flow statement.

The financial reporting standard (FRS) 105 also imposes specific rules for investment properties, which must be held at cost rather than revalued at market value and therefore this has tax reporting implications. 

Although specialist software may help by validating formatting and tagging, it won’t tell a director whether the underlying accounting is correct, so the cost of professional preparation is usually well worthwhile.

See: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/life-of-a-company-annual-requirements/life-of-a-company-part-1-accounts 

Software filing and iXBRL

The second major change is procedural but affects every company. From April 2028, accounts must be filed in online using specialist software and eXtensible Business Reporting Language (iXBRL).

It allows Companies House and HMRC to extract and cross-check figures automatically rather than relying on manual review.

Companies House does not provide its own software but landlords already using commercial software for bookkeeping or payroll may find their provider offers accounts filing as an add-on, and some packages may file with HMRC simultaneously. 

A list of approved providers is published on GOV.UK. Directors will need a company authentication code, a Companies House presenter account, and, more recently, verified identification.

WebFiling and paper submissions will close but both will remain open for everything else, such as confirmation statements, director changes, registered office updates, PSC filings, etc. 

Only annual account filing becomes software-only and if you use an accountant, they will save you the bother of all of this by doing the filing for you. 

Why it’s important for landlords 

Most landlord companies (special purpose vehicles – SPVs) sit within the micro-entity or small company categories. Most have modest turnover, few or no employees, and a limited portfolio of properties, more often fewer than 50. 

This makes the reforms directly relevant to them. It adds to the other matters incorporating landlords have had to get used to: identity verification for directors and people with significant control, plus tighter registered office rules. 

These are not massive changes, but they all add to the administrative burden which comes on top of the other rental compliance matters that landlords have to deal with.

As a modern buy-to-let landlord, an incorporated portfolio landlord, you must be prepared to educate yourself on all these matters or be prepared to pay someone to do it for you.

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