Companies House dissolved your UK company and it no longer exists on the register. The business can be brought back, but the route, the cost, and the deadline depend on exactly why it was struck off. Here is what you need to know.
Key Points
- 787,120 UK companies were dissolved in the year to March 2026. Many can be restored, but only within 6 years of dissolution.
- Administrative restoration (Form RT01, £341 Companies House fee) applies where the Registrar struck the company off. It is faster and cheaper than the court route.
- Court order restoration is required where directors applied to strike the company off voluntarily, or where the applicant is not a former director or shareholder.
- On dissolution, any remaining assets including bank balances pass to the Crown as bona vacantia. A waiver letter from the Government Legal Department is needed before restoration can proceed.
- A restored company is treated as if it had never been dissolved, so outstanding accounts, confirmation statements, and HMRC obligations all resume from the original dates.
FY2025/26 (Companies House)
to apply for restoration
for RT01 (admin route)
What company restoration actually means
When a UK limited company is dissolved, it ceases to exist as a legal entity. It cannot trade, enter contracts, hold assets, or take legal action. Any remaining property, including cash in a business bank account, automatically passes to the Crown.
Restoration is the legal process of bringing that company back onto the Companies House register as if it had never been removed. Under the Companies Act 2006, a successfully restored company is treated as having been in continuous existence: its registration number is the same, its previous contracts and obligations revive, and its directors resume their duties.
This matters because there are many situations where a company disappears from the register but someone still needs it to exist. The most common reasons people apply for restoration are:
- The company was struck off for missing filings but was still trading or had live contracts.
- Assets were left in the company (property, intellectual property, a bank balance) and the former owners want them back.
- A creditor needs to pursue a debt that was owed by the company before dissolution.
- The company needs to be a party to legal proceedings.
- The former owners simply want to resume trading under the same name and registration number.
Which restoration route applies to you
There are two routes to restoration under UK law. The route you must take depends on how the company was dissolved, not on your personal preference.
Available where Companies House struck the company off because it failed to file its confirmation statement or accounts. The Registrar initiates this process without the directors asking for it.
Who can apply: a former director or shareholder of the dissolved company.
Time limit: within 6 years of the date of dissolution.
Key conditions: the company must have been carrying on business or in operation at the time it was struck off, and all outstanding filings and penalties must be settled before or as part of the application.
Required where the directors applied voluntarily to strike the company off (using form DS01), or where the applicant is a creditor, a former employee, or any other interested party who is not a former director or shareholder.
Who can apply: a broader range of parties with a sufficient interest, including former members, creditors, managers, and others with a legal interest.
Time limit: normally within 6 years of dissolution. Some exceptions exist (personal injury claims can be brought later), but do not plan around these.
Process: application to the High Court or county court, supported by a witness statement and evidence of the reason for restoration. The process is more complex and usually requires legal representation.
Check before you apply
Many foreign-owned UK companies were dissolved after a director applied to strike them off voluntarily, believing this was the simplest route to close. If that is what happened, Form RT01 will be rejected. You need the court order route instead. 1Office can confirm which route applies to your company before you incur any costs.
Administrative restoration: how it works
Administrative restoration through Form RT01 is the simpler and faster route. Here is what it involves in practice.
What you need to prepare
- Form RT01 and a covering letter explaining why you want the company restored.
- Companies House fee: £341, paid directly to Companies House. The application is rejected if the wrong amount is enclosed.
- Treasury Solicitor (Bona Vacantia) fee: £64 + VAT, paid directly to the Government Legal Department. This is required when the company had assets at dissolution. See the bona vacantia section below.
- All outstanding filings must be brought up to date: confirmation statements, annual accounts, and any late filing penalties that accrued before dissolution must be settled.
- A bona vacantia waiver letter from the Government Legal Department, where relevant (see below).
How long it takes
Companies House does not publish a fixed processing time for RT01 applications. In practice, straightforward applications with no outstanding filings take several weeks. Applications that require Companies House to review overdue accounts or query the bona vacantia position can take considerably longer. Build in time for the bona vacantia waiver request, which is a separate step that can itself take several weeks.
Practical point
Request the bona vacantia waiver letter first, before submitting RT01. The Government Legal Department processes waiver requests separately, and your RT01 application can stall while you wait for it. Doing both in parallel is possible but requires careful coordination.
Court order restoration: when you need it
Where the administrative route is not available, restoration requires a court order. This applies in particular when the company was voluntarily struck off by its directors using Form DS01, which is a common situation for foreign-owned UK companies that were closed informally.
The process involves:
- Filing an application at the appropriate court (High Court for England and Wales; equivalent courts in Scotland and Northern Ireland).
- Preparing a witness statement setting out the history of the dissolution and the reasons for restoration.
- Giving notice to Companies House, HMRC, and other affected parties.
- Attending a court hearing (or obtaining a court order on paper in straightforward cases).
- Registering the court order at Companies House to effect the restoration.
Court order restoration is more time-consuming and more expensive than the administrative route. It typically requires a solicitor. 1Office does not handle the court order route directly but can refer you to appropriate legal professionals.
Bona vacantia: what happens to company assets
When a company is dissolved, any property it owned at that moment passes automatically to the Crown as bona vacantia ("ownerless goods"). This is not a penalty: it is a legal consequence of the company ceasing to exist as an entity that can hold property.
Assets that pass to the Crown include:
- Cash in the company's bank accounts
- Land and commercial property
- Shares the company held in other companies
- Intellectual property
- Uncashed cheques and outstanding receivables
In England and Wales, the Government Legal Department (Bona Vacantia Division) manages these assets. In Scotland it is the King's and Lord Treasurer's Remembrancer, and in the Duchies of Cornwall and Lancaster there are separate arrangements.
What happens on restoration
When a company is restored, assets that passed to the Crown are legally returned to the company, provided the Crown has not already sold or disclaimed them. For this reason, it is important to apply for restoration as quickly as possible if the company had assets at dissolution.
Before Companies House will process an RT01 application, you must obtain a bona vacantia waiver letter from the Government Legal Department confirming it has no objection to the restoration. This letter is not automatic: you apply for it separately, describe the company and its assets, and pay a fee (currently £64 + VAT for England and Wales). The Government Legal Department will review the position and may require further information before issuing the waiver.
Bank accounts
Bank balances are company property and pass to the Crown on dissolution. If your company had a business bank account with funds in it, those funds are technically Crown property from the date of dissolution. Contact the Government Legal Department promptly and start the waiver process before the bank closes or transfers the account. The sooner you act, the better your position.
After restoration: HMRC and filing obligations
Restoration reverses the dissolution as a matter of company law: the company is treated as if it had never been struck off. This means all obligations that existed before dissolution, and any that arose in the intervening period, resume in full.
Companies House filings
Any accounts, confirmation statements, or other filings that were due during the period of dissolution must be submitted after restoration. Late filing penalties accrue on the original deadlines, not the restoration date. These must be settled as part of the restoration process or immediately after.
HMRC obligations
A restored company's HMRC obligations run from the original dates:
- Corporation tax: returns and payments are due for any open accounting periods, with HMRC interest running from the original due dates. HMRC's records for the company may have been closed, so you will need to contact HMRC's corporation tax office to reactivate the account.
- VAT: if the company was making taxable supplies during the dissolution period, or if it became liable to register during that time, back-dated VAT obligations may arise.
- PAYE: if the company had employees or paid directors' salaries during the gap period, payroll must be reconciled.
- Self-assessment: directors who received payments from the company during the dissolution period should review their personal tax position.
Priority on restoration
Contact HMRC as soon as the company is back on the register. Do not wait for HMRC to contact you. The sooner outstanding returns and payments are made, the more you can limit interest and penalties. 1Office UK handles ongoing accounting, VAT returns, and HMRC correspondence for restored companies from the first day back on the register.
Common questions
Can I use the same company name after restoration?
Yes. Restoration brings the company back onto the register with the same name and registration number it had before dissolution. The name does not need to be re-registered. If another company registered the same name during the dissolution period, there may be a naming conflict to resolve, but this is uncommon.
What if the 6-year window has passed?
Administrative restoration is not available. Court order restoration also has a 6-year general limit, though personal injury and similar claims may be brought outside this window. If you are approaching or past the 6-year mark, seek legal advice promptly. For recovering assets from the Crown after the window closes, the Crown does have discretion to disclaim assets and may consider a claim, but there is no guaranteed route.
What about contracts the company had before dissolution?
Restoration revives all pre-dissolution contracts. Courts treat the company as having been a continuous party to those contracts. However, the other party to a contract may have treated it as terminated during the gap, which can create disputes. If there are live contracts involved, legal advice before applying for restoration is worthwhile.
The directors applied voluntarily to strike the company off using DS01. Can 1Office still help?
1Office handles the administrative restoration route (Form RT01). Where the company was voluntarily struck off using DS01, court order restoration is required, and 1Office does not handle that process directly. We can confirm which route applies to your company and refer you to appropriate legal professionals for the court route if needed.
Can I open a new UK company instead of restoring the old one?
In many cases, yes. If you have no specific reason to restore the original company (recovering assets, reviving a specific contract, continuing under an established registration), forming a new company may be simpler and faster. 1Office can form a new UK limited company and set up accounting from day one. The key exception is where the original company had assets, liabilities, or contracts that must be continued: those cannot transfer automatically to a new entity.
How much does the full restoration process cost?
For the administrative route: Companies House fee of £341, plus the Government Legal Department bona vacantia fee of £64 + VAT where applicable, plus 1Office's service fee of £250 + VAT. If there are overdue accounts or confirmation statements, late filing penalties at their current rates also apply. The court route involves additional legal fees and court fees, which vary by case.
Sources: Companies House, Companies register activities: April 2025 to March 2026; Companies Act 2006, ss. 1024–1034 (administrative restoration) and ss. 1029–1031 (court order restoration); 1Office UK: Company Administrative Restoration service.
About this article
Written and reviewed by the 1Office UK advisory and accounting team. Content reflects the Companies Act 2006 and Companies House guidance current as of November 2026. Dissolution statistics are from the Companies House Companies Register Activities Statistical Release (April 2025 to March 2026).
Published November 2026 · 1Office UK · [email protected]
1Office UK handles the full administrative restoration process: Form RT01, bona vacantia, overdue filings, and HMRC reactivation. Get a reply within one working day.
