Data · Companies House
Cash position of UK real estate companies in 2026
Draft, not published
57.9% of UK real estate companies in our sample are in net current liabilities: they owe more within the next twelve months than all their current assets combined. Across the whole sample the figure is 37.3%. Based on 839 companies in this sector with the figure tagged, from Companies House filings in June and July 2026.
Every figure we can publish for this sector
Each row shows what this sector reported, the same measure across the whole sample, and how many companies in the sector carried that figure. The counts differ by row because companies tag different fields, and the median ratio row uses its own smaller count: it needs both figures tagged and creditors above zero.
| Measure | Real estate | UK-wide | Companies in this figure |
|---|---|---|---|
| With negative net cash (cash plus debtors, less creditors due within one year, below zero) | 56.5% | 37.2% | 184 |
| In net current liabilities (net current assets below zero) | 57.9% | 37.3% | 839 |
| Holding less cash than the creditors due within one year | 75.6% | 63.8% | 307 |
| Median cash as a share of creditors due within one year | 11% | 48% | 301 |
| With £1,000 or less in the bank at the balance sheet date | 18.9% | 20.6% | 466 |
| Median cash at the balance sheet date | £7,938 | £12,327 | 466 |
Reading these numbers
Real estate carries the highest rate of net current liabilities in the dataset, 57.9% against 37.3% across the sample, and the lowest median ratio of cash to near-term creditors, 11% against 48%. Read both with the caveat the source method attaches: net current liabilities is not insolvency, and some healthy businesses run negative working capital by model, for example where customers pay up front. A balance sheet can show that shape and the business behind it can be sound. 56.5% of the sector had negative net cash against 37.2% UK-wide, and median cash of £7,938 is below the UK median of £12,327. Which of those two pictures applies to your company is a question the sector figures cannot answer.
Where these numbers come from. The Companies House monthly accounts bulk product, which is free and public, for accounts filed in June and July 2026. Dataset 2026-08: 10,000 filings randomly sampled (seed-reproducible), 6,863 with usable iXBRL facts; SIC joined from BasicCompanyDataAsOneFile-2026-08-01. Balance sheet facts were read from the filings themselves; each figure carries its own count of companies, because companies do not all tag the same fields.
Small companies file balance-sheet-only accounts with no profit and loss, so nothing on this page describes cover over time. Every claim here is cash against what is owed. Full method, definitions and caveats. This sector page draws on 891 sampled companies.
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