The Building Societies Act 1986 (Assimilation to Company Law and Changes to Funding Limit) Order 2026 published

The Building Societies Act 1986 (Assimilation to Company Law and Changes to Funding Limit) Order 2026 has been published, alongside an explanatory memorandum. The Order amends the Building Societies Act 1986 (BSA 1986) to align the provisions on common seals and the execution of documents by building societies with the equivalent regime under the Companies Act 2006. Building societies will therefore be able to choose whether to execute documents using a common seal or through authorised signatories, bringing them into line with the more flexible arrangements available to companies.

In addition, under section 7 of the BSA 1986, subject to specific exemptions, at least 50% of a building society's liabilities must be shares owned by individuals (known as "the funding limit"). The Order makes provisions to exclude certain sources of funding for the purposes of calculating the funding limit.

The draft version was laid before Parliament in July. More detail on the provisions can be found in our blogpost titled “Draft Building Societies Act 1986 (Assimilation to Company Law and Changes to Funding Limit) Order 2026 published”. The Order will come into force on 1 January 2027.

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