Companies House to double incorporation costs next year

If you’ve been thinking of turning your side hustle into a business, you might want to do it before the new year.

Next February, Companies House will be upping its fees. In some cases, setting up a company could cost twice as much as it does today.

Companies House insists its new prices will remain competitive compared to other countries and will help them modernise their systems, tighten security, and crack down on fraud.

But with the current economic climate already weighing heavily on small businesses, you have to wonder, is this the right moment to raise costs?

What are the new Companies House fees?

As a quick refresher, incorporation is the process of registering a company so it becomes a legal entity. It’s the first step anyone takes when officially starting a limited company in the UK.

From 1 February 2026, several fees will change. Here are some key updates to pay attention to:

• Incorporation (digital filing): £100, from £50

This is the cost to register your company on the official Companies House register. Every new limited company must do this to legally exist.

• Confirmation statement (digital filing): £50 — up from £34

This is a yearly check-in confirming your company details are up to date. All registered companies must file one annually.

• Voluntary strike off (digital filing): £13 — down from £33

This is the fee to close down your company. Interestingly, this is the only cost going down.

But where will all the extra cash go? According to Companies House, the new fees will help fund the modernisation of their services, thereby improving the experience for business owners.

The organisation is in the midst of a large push to make company information in the UK more accurate and accessible, while enforcing new measures under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act and investigating fraudulent activity via the Insolvency Service.

The goal is to create “a more trustworthy environment” for both consumers and businesses, and to get there, they need more staff, better tech, and stronger ID checks, all of which cost money.

What else is changing for businesses?

It’s not just Companies House getting more expensive. The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) will follow suit by increasing the cost of registering a trademark in April 2026.

In April 2026, fees will increase by an average of 25%. This makes a typical patent search rise from £150 to £200, while a trademark application will go from £170 to £205.

In its defence, the IPO says its fees haven’t increased in years. The last price review was in 2018 for patents, 2016 for designs, and not since 1998 for trademarks.

With inflation up 32% since 2016, they say that a 25% increase in fees helps to keep services running and invest in up-to-date digital tools.

While intellectual property may not feel like the most urgent point on your agenda when registering your business, don’t let the increased costs put you off entirely. Protecting your brand and ideas early on is vital, as it can save you from future legal complications.

Companies House ID checks: are you ready?

Don’t forget that fees aren’t the only upcoming change to Companies House. From tomorrow, 18 November, anyone setting up or running a company will also need to verify their identity.

This is part of the broader campaign to stop fraudulent companies from being registered and to make UK businesses more transparent.

New directors, PSCs (people with significant control), and anyone filing on behalf of a company will all need to complete the ID checks. The new rules also apply to existing companies, which will have a transition period to get verified.

These changes will hopefully improve transparency, reduce fraud, and modernise government systems, which, in theory, are all positives.

But for new founders already grappling with rising costs, economic uncertainty, and endless admin, having to also foot the bill for Companies House’s redevelopment feels unfortunately timed.

So, if you’re thinking about incorporating, it may be wise to do it sooner rather than later.