Quick summary
A struck-off company stops legally existing, and its assets, including the freehold itself, pass to the Crown as ownerless property. That freezes buildings insurance, repairs, and any pending sale or lease extension until it's fixed. Two main routes back exist: administrative restoration, generally available within six years for a former director or member if the company was genuinely trading or operating, and restoration by court order otherwise. Acting quickly matters, the longer a building sits without a legal freeholder, the messier insurance and finance get.
If you've found this because your building's freeholder company has actually been struck off already, skip the reassurance and go straight to the fix. It's genuinely serious, and genuinely recoverable, in that order.
What "struck off" actually means for your building
The company stops existing as a legal entity. Its property, which for a share of freehold building means the freehold itself, passes to the Crown as what's known as bona vacantia, essentially ownerless property that reverts to the state. This is a different, and in some ways worse, situation than a company going bust: there's no administrator managing an orderly process, just an asset sitting with the Crown Estate until someone applies to sort it out.
The immediate practical fallout
- Insurance stalls. The Crown won't arrange or renew buildings insurance for a property it's holding in this limbo.
- Repairs stall too. Nobody has the legal authority to instruct or authorise work on the building.
- The management side loses standing. Whoever normally collects service charges can't do so validly without a functioning freeholder relationship behind them.
- Sales and lease extensions freeze. Mortgage lenders are, understandably, reluctant to lend against a leasehold interest sitting under a Crown-owned freehold, and this affects every leaseholder trying to sell or extend, not just whoever happened to notice first.
Getting the company restored
- Check eligibility for the simpler route. Companies House can restore a company administratively, generally within six years of it being struck off, for a former director or member, where the company was genuinely trading or operating at the time. A fee applies, and every outstanding filing needs bringing up to date as part of the application, not after.
- Ask a solicitor about a court order otherwise. Needed if that six-year window's passed, the registrar objects, or the situation's more complicated than a straightforward case. Slower, and not something to attempt without proper legal help.
- Once restored, pick up exactly where it left off. File everything overdue immediately, check the director and member records since some detail may need reconstructing, and get insurance back in place without delay.
If you're not yet struck off but heading that way
This is dramatically cheaper and faster to fix before it happens than after. See our guides on checking your company's actual strike-off risk and what happens if you miss a filing deadline, both cover the warning signs directly.
Alternative paths worth knowing about
If the company was dysfunctional well beyond a simple admin lapse, restoration fixes the legal gap but not necessarily the governance behind it. The Right to Manage, or leaseholders buying the freehold outright between them, are worth understanding as longer-term options if what's needed is a cleaner structural fix rather than just restoring the status quo.
Almost every one of these starts with a warning nobody read, sent to an address nobody checks. Worth fixing both: that letter from Companies House, explained and moving the registered office.
Frequently asked questions
Can leaseholders do anything before the company is restored?
Practically, options are limited, there's no valid freeholder to instruct works or hold insurance in the meantime. Leaseholders can push for restoration jointly if a former director won't act, or look into the Right to Manage depending on the specifics. Given what's at stake, this is genuinely worth a solicitor's advice rather than handling alone.
How long does restoration take?
It varies, but once the application and every outstanding filing are properly in order, Companies House's own processing for the simpler route is often measured in weeks. Going through the courts takes considerably longer.
Does restoration bring everything back exactly as it was?
Broadly, yes, the company is treated as though it had continued in existence throughout. Specific assets the Crown may have already dealt with in the meantime can need separate handling, which is another reason to get a solicitor involved for a building specifically rather than treating this as a pure paperwork exercise.