You’ve set up your limited company and now – for whatever reason – need to change the registered office address. Is this possible?
Yes it is! Let’s take a closer look.
Updating your company’s registered office
There are a number of ways to change the address:
- Complete and return the ‘AD01 Change of registered office address’ document to Companies House
- Use Companies House WebFiling to make the change online
- If you formed your company with us, use your online company manager to make the change online
The AD01 form takes roughly 2 weeks to process, whereas the online methods can take as little as a few hours.
What is the registered office?
This is the main, official, address for a private limited company and where government bodies such as Companies House and HMRC will send their correspondence. For example, shortly after the company formation, Companies House will mail the company authentication code to the registered office.
The address must be based in the UK.
Zero trading activity needs to take place at the address, provided all government correspondence that’s sent there (such as the letter mentioned above) is seen by the company officers.
While residential addresses can be used, many business owners opt against this, as the address is on the Companies House public register – making it freely viewable to anyone who’s interested, and so opening it up to unexpected visitors, junk mail, and more.
Because of this, many business owners choose to use an alternative address as their registered office, such as their accountant’s address or their company formation agent’s address.
The Companies House public register
Even if the address is changed, the previous address will remain on the public register in the ‘Filing history’ area of the ‘Search the register’ tool. This is, however, harder to find compared to the current registered office address.
Our registered office service
Our Covent Garden address is available to use via our own registered office service. If you have not yet formed your company, this is included with a number of our company formation packages. Alternatively, if you have formed your company, you can pick the service up separately.
There you have it, how to change your registered office address. Please leave a comment if you have any questions about this post and we’ll be in touch shortly.
