Identity verification has started at Companies House: So why is misuse still an issue?

From November 2025, identity verification became a legal requirement at Companies House. Directors and people with significant control must now verify who they are using official photo ID, either directly through GOV.UKOne Login or via an authorised professional. 

On paper, this is a meaningful shift. It is intended to prevent people being appointed without consent and to reduce misuse of personal details across the public register. 

So why are landlords still finding their name or address being used without their knowledge? 

Because identity verification is not an instant fix. It is a transition. 

The gap between policy and reality

The introduction of identity verification marks the start of a 12-month transition period, not a reset of the register. Existing companies remain live while directors and PSCs verify over time. Historic filings are not automatically rechecked. Addresses can still be entered inaccurately or misleadingly, and enforcement remains largely reactive. 

In recent years, tens of thousands of reports have been made to Companies House relating to incorrect or unauthorised information, including residential addresses being used without consent and individuals listed in roles they never agreed to. Many of these issues continue to surface now, often discovered accidentally. 

Verification makes misuse easier to prove once it is found. It does not guarantee that it will be identified early. 

Why this matters for landlords

Landlords operate in a system where property addresses and personal details are widely shared. Your address appears on tenancy agreements, licensing records, listings, and public registers. That visibility is unavoidable, but it creates opportunity for misuse. 

For an individual landlord, a company registered at your property address may initially look like an administrative nuisance. In practice, it can lead to unwanted correspondence, reputational issues, and time spent correcting a problem you did not create. 

For landlords with multiple properties, the risk is different and often greater. 

Why scale increases risk

When you manage a portfolio, activity becomes fragmented. Different agents, different tenants, different postcodes. A single property being misused can sit unnoticed simply because it is buried in the volume of normal administration. 

Larger landlords also rely more heavily on delegation. Agents manage instructions. Third parties handle paperwork. That structure works well until something happens outside the scope of a specific instruction. 

In practice, the more properties you own or manage, the harder it is to maintain full visibility without independent oversight. The risk is not that something goes wrong. It is that something goes wrong quietly. 

Identity verification does not equal monitoring

Identity verification confirms that someone is who they say they are. It does not confirm that they are entitled to use your address or associate themselves with your property. 

A verified individual can still register a company at an address they do not own. Companies House does not automatically notify property owners when their address is used. The system relies on the affected person noticing and reporting the issue. 

Whether you own one property or fifty, if you are not actively checking, you will not know. 

The overlap with wider property risk

Address misuse is rarely isolated. In practice, it can overlap with unauthorised subletting, unexpected listings, or third parties presenting themselves as having authority they do not have. What starts as a Companies House issue can quickly become a property issue if it goes unnoticed. 

The common thread is delayed awareness. 

Where Title Guardian fits

This is the visibility gap that Title Guardian is designed to close. 

Title Guardian monitors activity linked to your property, name, and address that you would not otherwise be told about. This includes: 

• Companies registered at your address without your knowledge 

• Unexpected signals linked to any of your properties 

• Early indicators of unauthorised use across a portfolio 

For individual landlords, this provides reassurance. 

For portfolio landlords, it provides oversight at scale. 

What to do next

If you manage property and would want to know when any one of your properties is being used without your consent, the next step is simple. 

Title Guardian allows landlords to check what is currently linked to their name and addresses, including Companies House registrations, and to set up alerts for future changes. 

You can: 

• See whether any of your addresses are currently being used by companies 

• Understand what activity may already be linked to your properties 

• Receive alerts when something changes  

If nothing is flagged, you gain peace of mind. 

If something is flagged, you find out early, while it is still straightforward to challenge. 

To see what is linked to your name or properties today, visit Title Guardian today.