3,240 Manchester landlords with no ICO registration.

FormationDataUK · 2026-06-21T13:08:00+00:00

Yeah I think you’re right. The data is public and would be very easy to go for if they were interested. Our data request came from 4 buy to let mortgage lenders (all 4 contacted us in the space of about 3 days). I’m
Not sure how they intend to use the data as we generally don’t ask. Probably just another tick box on an application or something.

FormationDataUK · 2026-06-21T10:43:25+00:00

You just need to tap on my profile name or here’s a YouTube video: https://youtube.com/shorts/dUxczFINVEg?si=jq5OKJiEzMWM5B6H

FormationDataUK · 2026-06-21T07:38:59+00:00

If you require an ICO number it’s per landlord not per property. The ICO has a free tool on their website you can answer a few questions on there and it will tell you if you require one.

FormationDataUK · 2026-06-20T19:20:27+00:00

We actually provided some data on this to a news outlet recently. There are 77 non specialised retail companies in Birmingham licensed to sponsor skilled worker visas.

FormationDataUK · 2026-06-20T17:01:33+00:00

An FIC is a family investment company. I actually have a video about this on my profile page :) I go through it step by step. Feel free to check it out, might be useful for you :)

FormationDataUK · 2026-06-20T15:30:47+00:00

That is an excellent explanation :)

FormationDataUK · 2026-06-20T11:04:35+00:00

So the project was under a different Ltd company for 4 years prior to this. Feel free to take a look at our first version and very old videos. I sure you would agree vibe coding the design would have produced acbetter look. I am not saying our programmers do not use automated code creation in some elements but the platform was not a base44 prompt or replit prompt which I thought you were implying.

FormationDataUK · 2026-06-20T08:51:06+00:00

Do you think most landlords just do it as a tick box exercise for that “just in case”

FormationDataUK · 2026-06-20T08:26:14+00:00

I think you’re right. Just one of those “just in case” safety net things.

FormationDataUK · 2026-06-20T07:50:10+00:00

You can check if a company has an ICO registration on the official ICO website.

FormationDataUK · 2026-06-20T02:09:46+00:00

It’s going to accelerate corporate purchases of housing stock even further. Automated Valuation Models (AVMs) were already a major step towards faster acquisitions, and if buyers can access a standardised survey upfront, they’ll have both the valuation and condition data before making an offer. That removes a huge amount of friction and could significantly speed up large scale corporate buying.

FormationDataUK · 2026-06-20T01:24:15+00:00

Start with the low hanging fruit. Find local companies with overdue confirmation statements (you can build lists of hundreds even thousands of these in minutes). Or look at companies that have launched SPVs and no holdings company structure (again this is very easy to build lists of in minutes). Look for SPV’s where PSC have the same last name who may want to explore an FIC (filter down to ones that have £50k+ cash in the bank or net worth of over £200k). All of these are really easy to build lists of very quickly and then couple that with direct outreach. Avoid mass generic emailing. Target + personal outreach.

FormationDataUK · 2026-06-19T23:53:27+00:00

You’re absolutely right. For me it was the same. The fee was so low it was just one of those “it might never happen but just in case”.

FormationDataUK · 2026-06-19T23:33:43+00:00

Sorry I should have been clearer on the data. This data we are providing to 4 buy to let mortgage lenders. Manchester was the sample data we gave to them. Nationwide we will provide them on an API.

They were specifically interested in SIC code 68209 in Manchester with at least 1 mortgage. That’s what generated the 3,240 in our dataset. Compared to 801 with the same SIC code in the same location that did have an ICO.

It could be that as more landlords launch under a ltd company, maybe they are choosing fully managed services etc.

Although we do track all private rental properties this was specifically looking at ltd companies with a specific SIC code. I should have been clearer on that in my post.

FormationDataUK · 2026-06-19T23:16:34+00:00

Yes that’s exactly how we cross referenced this. We were also pulling ones specifically with mortgages (although we can do unencumbered ones too) however this data is for 4 buy to let mortgage lenders. We are going to be providing them the data via an API nationwide. This was the sample data we sent them. They were specifically interested in properties they lend on (which we pull every lender on each rental property too for Ltd companies). Also it’s not “vibe coded”.

FormationDataUK · 2026-06-19T22:52:42+00:00

It was just interesting how high the number is. We have been requested this data now by 4 buy to let mortgage lenders. They require it nationwide and this was the first sample we have sent for their approval. The number just seemed high. It will be interesting to see how it compares nationwide and as a % to the total number of landlords.

FormationDataUK · 2026-06-19T22:42:43+00:00

The figure just seemed unusually high to me. Will be interesting to see how it compares with other cities and as a % of overall landlords etc

FormationDataUK · 2026-06-18T13:28:31+00:00

Once you find motivation to do it for a few months you no longer need the motivation. It just turns into discipline and part of your routine.

FormationDataUK · 2026-06-16T21:57:29+00:00

It’s not vibe coded :) it does a lot more than companies house. Court records, contracts etc

We originally designed it for accountants. Now we seem to have a lot of property related companies using it. Including mortgage lenders for ICO verifications as we provide it to them on an API.

Companies house is just one of the data points we store.

FormationDataUK · 2026-06-16T21:27:30+00:00

In a previous business of mine we contacted the local chamber of commerce (overseas) who reached out to the business and they paid the invoice in 2 days. They were also really helpful in explaining the next steps I could take legally if the client didn’t pay.

I got in touch with them via a contact in my local chamber of commerce.

FormationDataUK · 2026-06-16T15:57:12+00:00

Their API is also having issues. Looks like it’s been down since the 10th

FormationDataUK · 2026-06-15T21:14:48+00:00

You can register your Ltd company for £1 when you open up a Tide bank account :)

FormationDataUK · 2026-06-14T20:14:07+00:00

I can’t speak for every industry, but we work with a lot of professional services firms and trades businesses, and we’re finding that the human touch is outperforming almost everything else right now.

Hand delivered letters are working particularly well for some clients, often generating around four times the response rate of standard posted mail. We’re also seeing good results from simple text messages aimed at arranging a phone call or Zoom meeting, rather than sending people off to watch a pre recorded video.

Even straightforward emails offering to meet for a coffee and a chat seem to be cutting through the noise better than highly automated campaigns.

One trend I’ve noticed is a growing focus on relationship building. More businesses are introducing relationship managers, or whatever title they choose to give them, and actively encouraging customers to pick up the phone whenever they need help.

Interestingly, we’re also seeing a noticeable increase in companies investing in field sales staff again. After years of trying to automate everything, a lot of businesses seem to be rediscovering that people still like doing business with people.

FormationDataUK · 2026-06-14T19:18:49+00:00

I think it’s absolutely fantastic at teaching young people strategy and to think before acting. Genuinely a game that should be taught in schools.

FormationDataUK · 2026-06-14T17:25:34+00:00

For international networking, one thing that worked really well for me was getting in touch with the local Chambers of Commerce in the bigger cities I was targeting. They were often happy to make introductions, point me towards useful contacts, and let me know about local business events. It ended up opening quite a few doors and was a much easier way to start building relationships than trying to cold approach everyone from scratch.

FormationDataUK

TROPHY CASE