Registered office address: protect your home privacy in 2026

Oct 2

6 min read

Your registered office address is public. If you run a limited company from home, using your kitchen table as your workspace does not mean your home must also be the address shown on Companies House. You can arrange a suitable alternative, with permission, while keeping official correspondence accessible.

The important decisions are which address to use, how company post will reach you, and whether your home appears elsewhere in the company's record. This guide explains the checks for new and existing directors, including business owners in Bromley, London and across the UK.

What makes a registered office address suitable?

A registered office is the company's official address. Under the current registered office rules, it must be a physical UK address in the correct country of registration. It must also be appropriate: someone acting for the company should become aware of delivered correspondence, and senders must be able to obtain confirmation of delivery. A Royal Mail PO Box, or a similar service, cannot be used.

You may use an accountant, solicitor or another provider if you have permission and the address meets those requirements. Arrange this before incorporation if you want to avoid registering your home. The company's registered email is separate: it is not published on the register, but incoming emails must be read.

Think beyond the appearance of an address. Ask what happens when an important envelope arrives while you are travelling, or when the person handling your post is absent. A useful arrangement has a clear route from receipt to action.

Check each address separately

Companies House distinguishes between a company's address and a director's addresses. Its personal information guidance explains the differences:

Registered office: the company's official address, available publicly.
Director's service address: a public correspondence address. It can match the registered office or be somewhere else.
Usual residential address: the director's home address, supplied privately to Companies House. Certain public authorities and credit reference agencies can access it under the applicable rules.
SAIL: a single alternative inspection location used for some company records. This address is also public.

Providing your home address in the private residential field does not make it public by itself. Using the same address in a public field does. A privacy review should therefore check every relevant entry, including any service address you use as a person with significant control.

Make a simple inventory with three columns: the role of the address, where it appears, and the action needed. This helps avoid changing the company overview while overlooking another public entry.

Choosing a registered office service: practical questions

Compare the service behind the address before agreeing to use it. These are practical questions to raise with a provider, rather than promises that every package includes the same facilities.

What correspondence is included?

Ask whether the arrangement covers Companies House and HMRC letters only, or wider business mail as well. Check whether director service addresses are included separately. Do not assume a registered office package also provides parcel handling, meeting space or permission to advertise a trading location.

How quickly will you receive post?

Find out whether letters are scanned, forwarded or held for collection, and ask about normal turnaround times. Clarify how urgent correspondence is flagged. If scans arrive by email, decide who monitors that inbox and who takes over during holidays.

What happens to original documents?

Ask how long originals are retained and how you can request them. Consider whether your own records process needs both a digital copy and the original. Agree who can receive company mail and keep contact details current.

What are the full costs and exit arrangements?

Check renewal charges, forwarding costs, extra recipients and any limits on mail volume. Ask what happens if you switch accountant or end the service. Plan an orderly handover before access ends, with enough time to arrange the replacement and update the register.

Record the answers in writing. A low headline price is difficult to compare with another quote if one includes scanning and the other charges separately for each item.

How to change an existing registered office

For an existing company, agree the replacement address and obtain permission first. Then use the official Companies House change-of-address service. Its guidance says to notify Companies House within 14 days of the change and explains that online filing requires the company authentication code. Some situations, including a company in liquidation or one defaulted to a Companies House address, require a paper form.

The company information reporting guidance says the address is not officially changed until Companies House registers it. The replacement must remain in the relevant part of the UK: for example, a company incorporated in England and Wales must keep its registered office in England or Wales.

After filing, check the public company record and retain the acceptance confirmation. Do not treat an email to your accountant, a mail-redirection order or a change to your website as proof that Companies House has registered the new address.

Companies House says it will inform HMRC when the registered office change is approved. Separately check whether other business contact details need updating. Review banks, insurers, suppliers and software records according to how the address is used.

If director or PSC details also need changing, deal with those entries explicitly. Assign each task to someone and record when it is complete, instead of assuming the registered office update covers every address.

Will changing the address remove your home from old filings?

Changing the current registered office and addressing historical documents are separate jobs. Companies House now allows applications to suppress a home address previously used as a registered office. Older articles saying this is never possible may be out of date.

Under the current removal guidance, an active company must change its registered office before an application to remove that address. For a dissolved company, there is a six-month waiting period before applying to remove an address used as its registered office. The published fee is £34 per document, checked on 2 October 2026.

Suppression does not necessarily mean every part disappears. For an address previously used as a UK registered office, Companies House says the first half of the postcode remains visible. There are also limits on which information can be removed.

Start with a document list rather than a general request to erase your address. The SR01 completion instructions explain that you must identify the original filing that put your home address on the register, not the later filing that moved the registered office away. Record the document type and registration date. If your home is also the SAIL address, change that before completing SR01.

Applications need care because a missing document can leave an address visible elsewhere. Follow the current form and payment instructions, keep a copy of what you submit, and check the result after processing. Companies House does not control copies held by third-party websites; those may need separate enquiries.

A worked example: moving a home-based company

Imagine a fictional consultant in Bromley who formed a company using their home as both registered office and director service address. They now want greater separation between business correspondence and family life.

First, they list the two current public entries and inspect the filing history. Next, they choose a provider that permits both uses, agree how letters will be forwarded, and set up a monitored email inbox for scans.

They arrange the necessary current-address updates and check that these have been accepted. They then prepare any eligible historical suppression application using the actual documents identified. Finally, they review their website and business templates.

The lesson is to manage the change as a small project. Choosing a new address is the beginning; checking records and making sure correspondence still reaches the right person completes the practical work.

Remember your website and business stationery

A registered office review should include customer-facing material. GOV.UK's company disclosure guidance requires business letters, order forms and websites to show the registered office, company number, place of registration and limited company status. It also sets rules for displaying the company name.

Check website footers, letterheads and order-form templates after a registered office change. Keep a separate list of any trading or correspondence addresses you display so customers are not directed to an address that does not accept visits or deliveries.

For a Bromley or London business, an address service can support administration, but the words used on your website should still describe how your business actually operates. Check what the provider permits before presenting its premises as somewhere customers can attend.

Your registered office review checklist

Find the company by its number and check the current registered office.
Review director and PSC correspondence entries and any SAIL address.
Check the filing history for earlier uses of a home address.
Confirm permission, appropriate-address requirements and the correct jurisdiction.
Agree mail handling, named contacts, renewal costs and exit arrangements.
File required changes, retain confirmations and check the public result.
Consider eligible historical suppression separately, using current guidance.
Update relevant business records and schedule a periodic contact-detail review.

Mysimplytax supports limited companies in Bromley, London and throughout the UK, including registered office services, company formation and Companies House compliance. Our limited company accounting services also cover annual accounts, Corporation Tax, payroll and bookkeeping.

If you are forming a company or reviewing an existing address, contact our team to discuss a suitable arrangement and the practical steps for your company.

Sources checked: 2 October 2026. This guide covers general company administration; unusual company circumstances may require specific advice.