The New Register Of Overseas Entities

The Register for Overseas Entities (RoE) launched on the 1st of August 2022. Any registrations must be finalised by the 31st of January 2023. Failure to register may lead to fines and even imprisonment ...

Any overseas entities that plan to acquire land must have an overseas entity ID for any transactions registered after the 5th of September 2022. There are a number of steps which must be completed before a registration can be successful:

- identifying the beneficial owners
- collect information on the overseas entity
- verification of the UK-regulated agent
- registration with Companies House

Any UK-regulated agents who wish to act for overseas entities must have processes in place to ensure all requirements of ETCEA 2002 are met. Companies House has been sending out letters to overseas entities that own UK property using the land registry address.

Existing owners must complete their registration by the 31st of January 2023 and any overseas entity looking to acquire land after the 5th of September 2022 will also need to register. Fines can be up to £2,500 per day and there's even potential imprisonment to contend with.

"You can see the Government is taking this very seriously!"

Most importantly, any person certifying the registration must be regulated for anti-money laundering and not many agents offer this service due to the criminal sanctions for false or misleading information.

If you'd like to find out more about anything I've written here, do call me on 01908 774323 or leave a comment below and let's see how I can help you.