Quick summary
Strike-off is Companies House removing a company that's stopped filing, usually a confirmation statement, and it's checkable right now on the public register. An unverified director is a second, newer route into trouble: directing a company with an unverified director is itself an offence, on top of the usual filing-based strike-off risk.
Strike-off is Companies House's way of removing a company that's stopped filing what it should, usually a confirmation statement or accounts. Ordinary companies shrug it off as an administrative nuisance. Your building's Resident Management Company, which happens to own the freehold you live under, carries rather more at stake, and the whole thing often creeps up unnoticed until it's already underway.
Check it now
- Head to Companies House's public register, find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk.
- Search your company by name or number.
- Look at company status. "Active" is fine. "Active, proposal to strike off" means the clock's already running. "Dissolved" means it's over.
- Check the filing history for anything overdue. A red flag against a confirmation statement or accounts is the earliest sign worth noticing.
What it looks like in practice
Companies House gives warning before striking a company off. A filing goes overdue, reminders go to the registered office, and if nothing changes a notice appears in the Gazette proposing to strike the company off. Ignore that too, and the company gets dissolved. The whole thing can move through in a matter of weeks once it starts, which makes catching it early, before the Gazette notice, worth quite a lot. See our piece on what actually happens once a confirmation statement goes overdue for the full sequence.
Why these companies carry more exposure than most
Boards made up of volunteers are squeezing this in around actual jobs and actual lives, usually with nobody paid to keep an eye on filings. The registered office is often just a flat in the building itself, and a sale without an address update sends Companies House correspondence, including the strike-off warning, straight to someone who no longer lives there.
If you're flagged
File the outstanding item, usually the confirmation statement, as soon as you can, and object to the strike-off while the notice period's still open. Our step-by-step filing guide walks through exactly what that needs. Companies House provides a route for this once the underlying gap is fixed. Start moving now rather than waiting for the deadline in the notice.
The earliest warning is usually a letter rather than a search result, so it is worth knowing which ones matter: that letter from Companies House, explained.
Frequently asked questions
How often should I actually check?
Whenever a deadline's approaching at minimum, though ongoing monitoring closes the real gap, someone simply forgetting to look. FreeholdMate checks this automatically alongside your confirmation statement due date and puts an unmissable banner on the dashboard if anything changes.
Can a struck-off company come back?
Often, yes, via administrative restoration or a court order, though it's a more involved and sometimes pricier route than filing on time would have been. See our guide on what to actually do if your freehold company's already been struck off for the full process.
Does a warning mean it's definitely happening?
It's a proposal with a notice period during which you can act. Treat it as urgent all the same, rather than a formality to file away, and use software that flags it the moment it appears rather than relying on someone checking the public register by hand.