Buying off-plan in England:
how do I check the developer company?
The brand that markets a scheme and the company that signs your contract are not always the same name. This guide shows how to check the selling company, its Companies House records, the developer’s registration with the industry code, the planning permission and, for high-rise buildings, building safety approval, all from public sources.
Look past the brand
to the company on the contract.
A registered developer tells you in writing, before you reserve, who you are buying the home from. Search for that company on Companies House: its status, officers, accounts, the charges it has given and the person or parent company with control are all free to view.
Then check whether the developer is “active” on the New Homes Quality Board (NHQB) register, look up the scheme’s planning permission and, for a high-rise building, ask about Building Safety Regulator approval.
None of these records shows a company’s financial strength or that it will deliver the home on time, and Companies House carries out only limited checks on what it is given. The records help you ask the right questions; they do not make the decision for you.
Brand, seller and scheme company
The group or brand name that markets a scheme may differ from the company that signs the contract. The NHQB’s New Homes Quality Code itself recognises that developers may have different businesses and subsidiaries.
Under the Code, a registered developer gives you in writing, before the reservation agreement, who you are buying the home from, the price and the contact details of any warranty provider with a summary.
Before the contract of sale it also gives the reference number of the planning consent for the home. Every reservation agreement includes a cooling-off period of at least 14 days.
Note the selling company’s full name and company number. Every check that follows is made against that company.
What to look at on Companies House
Companies House makes all the public data it holds on companies available free of charge, with no need to register. On a company’s page you will see:
- Status: whether the company is live or dissolved.
- Officers: current and resigned directors.
- Filing history: accounts and other filings.
- Charges: security the company has given for a loan; a mortgage is one kind of charge.
- People with significant control (PSC): usually anyone with more than 25% of the shares or voting rights; where the company sits in a group, the first parent company in the chain.
Companies House says a close review of each document during registration is not always possible and that it makes only basic checks on accounts. It cannot take responsibility for the consequences of errors or omissions. The register shows what the company has filed; it is not an audit.
Since 18 November 2025, identity verification for directors and people with significant control has been a legal requirement, with a 12-month transition period starting on that date. A company does not have to tell Companies House when a charge is satisfied, so old charges can still look open on the record; ask your solicitor what they mean.
To check whether a company is being wound up, GOV.UK also points to the insolvency notices on The Gazette.
The NHQB register and the new homes code
The New Homes Quality Board runs an industry code that developers register with. According to its Register of Developers, if your developer is “active” and you reserved on or after its registration start date, you are protected by the Code. Customers of a developer shown as “pending” are not yet protected.
A registered developer’s customers can use the New Homes Ombudsman Service from reservation until two years after legal completion. Version 2 of the Code applies to reservations from 2 March 2026, and developers must state in their sales and marketing material that they are on the register.
Delays and deposit protection are covered in our guide to buying off-plan, and defects at handover and the warranty in our snagging guide.
Planning permission
According to GOV.UK, plans for all new developments that need planning permission are made public by the council, and its search page sends you to the right council’s planning register. In London that is the borough where the scheme sits.
With the reference number the developer gives you, you can find the permission, the approved drawings and the conditions attached to it on the council’s register. In England, unless the permission sets a different period, it lapses if work has not begun within three years of the date it was granted.
High-rise buildings and the Building Safety Regulator
Buildings of at least 7 storeys or at least 18 metres high with at least two homes are “higher-risk buildings”.
Since 1 October 2023 the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) has been their building control authority: approval is needed before building work starts, the building must be registered with the BSR before people live there, and a completion certificate is issued when the work is finished.
If you know the postcode, you can look up the information the BSR holds on a high-rise residential building on GOV.UK. If you are buying off-plan, ask the developer in writing what stage BSR approval has reached.
Our role and how we are paid
OGKinvest introduces buyers to new-home developers and is paid an introduction fee by the developer; when a developer pays us, we tell you. That is why no step in this list relies on our word: each check rests on a public record you can open yourself.
For the schemes on our Projects page, we can go through these records with you in a consultation.
Five checks
on the developer.
A reminder only; your solicitor handles the contract and the searches.
Short questions,
short answers.
Does a “live” company on Companies House mean it is reliable?
It only shows that the company has not been dissolved; it says nothing about its financial strength or whether it will deliver the home. Companies House makes limited checks on documents when they are registered and only basic checks on accounts.
How do I know if a developer is registered with the NHQB?
Search for it on the NHQB’s Register of Developers. If it is “active” and you reserved after its registration start date, the Code covers you; if it is “pending”, not yet. Registered developers must also say so in their sales material.
Is it a problem if the brand and the contracting company differ?
Not in itself; developer groups can work through subsidiaries. What matters is knowing which company signs your contract and checking that company. You can see the parent company in the people with significant control record on Companies House.
Will a scheme with planning permission definitely be built?
No. Planning permission only shows that permission was granted, not that building will start or finish. Unless it sets another period, it lapses if work has not begun within three years. Read the completion date and delay clauses in the contract.
Won’t my solicitor do these checks?
Your solicitor handles the contract and the searches. The records in this guide help you prepare your own questions before you reserve. Ask in writing at the outset which checks fall within your solicitor’s work.
We do not vouch for any company;
this page is not advice.
This guide summarises, as general information, what Companies House, the NHQB, GOV.UK and the Building Safety Regulator publish; it gives no view on any developer. Read the contract and the records with the solicitor handling your purchase.
OGKinvest introduces buyers to new-home developers and is paid an introduction fee by the developer; when a developer pays us, we tell you.
The pages this
guide relies on.
- GOV.UK: Get information about a company and Searching the Companies House register (9 June 2026). Free data, status, basic checks, responsibility.
- Companies House: Verify your identity (30 April 2026). 18 November 2025 and the 12-month transition.
- People with significant control (30 July 2026) and Register a charge (1 February 2026). 25%, parent companies; charges and satisfaction.
- GOV.UK: Find out if a company is in financial trouble. Notices on The Gazette.
- NHQB: Register of developers, The Code and Code version 2 (March 2026). Active and pending, the ombudsman, 1.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.6(d), subsidiaries.
- GOV.UK: Search for planning decisions and Town and Country Planning Act 1990, section 91. The council’s register and three years.
- BSR: Building control approval for higher-risk buildings (1 October 2026), Find a high-rise residential building and SI 2023/909. 7 storeys or 18 m, approval, registration and completion certificate, 1 October 2023.
- Cover photo: A tower crane against the sky. Photo: Vladislav Iakunichev, Unsplash (Unsplash License).
Last checked: 16 October 2026. This page is general information, not legal advice, and contains no view on any company. Records change all the time; open the registers as they stand before you decide.
Let’s open
the records together.
In a consultation we can go through the selling company, the planning file and the register entries for the scheme you are interested in.
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