Who counts as a PSC
Companies House’s guidance lists the ways someone can be a person with significant control1:
- They hold more than 25% of the shares or of the voting rights.
- They can appoint or remove a majority of the directors.
- They can otherwise exercise significant influence or control over the company, which “will only apply in limited circumstances”.
- Where a trust or a firm without legal personality meets one of these tests, its trustees or partners are recorded too.
Exactly 25% doesn’t count: the test is more than 25%. Two founders with 50% each are both PSCs; four with 25% each, and no other control, are not. A company that owns your shares can be a PSC in its own right: see when a company or legal person is your PSC.
What is recorded about each PSC
For an individual, Companies House needs their name, date of birth, nationality, country of residence, a service address, their home address (which is not published), the date they became a PSC, the date they confirmed their details, and every nature of control that applies1. Shareholdings and votes are recorded in bands, not exact percentages1:
| Band | Example |
|---|---|
| More than 25% up to and including 50% | A 50:50 co-founder |
| More than 50% and less than 75% | 60% of the shares |
| 75% or more | A sole shareholder |
Changes that need reporting
Report within 14 days when2,1:
- someone becomes a PSC, for example after buying shares, or because new shares diluted others below 25% and lifted them over it;
- a PSC’s details change: a new name, address, or a move between bands, say from 60% to 80%;
- someone stops being a PSC: they sold down to 25% or less, or gave up the right to appoint directors. When a PSC dies, Companies House keeps them on the register until it receives a grant of probate or letters of administration4.
Share issues are a common trigger. If you issue new shares, check each shareholder’s percentage afterwards: someone can cross 25% or drop below it without buying or selling anything.
If the company has no PSC at all, the register still can’t be blank: you file a statement saying so. See when a company has no PSC.
Check your company’s dates and set a reminder
Search the Companies House register. Your company page shows its filing dates, what to file next and a reminder you can set.
Identity verification for PSCs
Every individual PSC must now verify their identity with Companies House. Someone added as a PSC after 18 November 2025 gives their personal code when they’re added, or within 14 days of being added4. PSCs already on the register have their own windows. Read giving a PSC’s personal code for the dates.
Finding your PSCs
The company must try to identify and contact anyone who could be a PSC, and can send them a notice asking for their details1. Not answering a notice within a calendar month, or giving false information, is a criminal offence1.
Filing the change
Fileyear’s PSC update asks what changed, works out who crosses the 25% thresholds, and files the right form: PSC01 for a new individual, PSC04 for a change, PSC07 for someone leaving, and the company or legal-person versions where the PSC isn’t an individual.