Choosing a registered office for your limited company may seem inconsequential, but it does require some consideration. You can use any address you want, other than a PO Box, provided it’s located in the same country where you set up your company. This means you can use your home address as a registered office, but doing so is not advisable. Below, we explain why this is the case.
Your registered office is essentially the HQ of your company, but you don’t have to base your business there. It is the official contact address where your company can receive written communication from HMRC, Companies House, the courts, and other government agencies and departments.
The benefits of a non-residential registered office address
If you run your business from home or don’t have a fixed working location, you may be inclined to use your home address as a registered office. However, it’s generally accepted that a non-residential (commercial) registered office is the better choice. Here are five reasons why.
1. Privacy
Registered office address details are recorded at Companies House and published on the official register of companies. This information is available to the general public, including those pesky cold-callers and direct mail marketers.
Moreover, if anything goes wrong and your business becomes insolvent, clients and creditors have access to your home address on the companies register. Company insolvency could also impact your personal credit history due to the link to your residential address.
Therefore, the best way to protect yourself and your privacy is to avoid using your home address as a registered office.
2. Professional image
Think about the professional image you want to present. A commercial registered office is far more likely to impress potential clients and investors than a residential one.
Your business may be small, but that shouldn’t limit your ability to establish a corporate image and make a big impression.
3. Trustworthiness
Regardless of your residential postcode, a commercial registered office address will legitimise your company and boost your professional credibility to a far greater extent.
It’s a great way to build trust, as prospective clients and investors place greater confidence in a business with a commercial address in a prominent location.
4. Junk mail
Using a residential address as your registered office can increase the mail delivered to your home. Whilst official government mail wouldn’t be an issue, you could end up receiving a significant amount of junk mail, as your registered office address is placed on the public register of companies which is monitored by businesses that target startups with their service offerings.
Using a residential address as your registered office can increase the amount of mail delivered to your home. While official government mail wouldn’t be an issue, you could end up receiving a significant amount of junk mail.
To avoid this potential nuisance, you can set up a commercial registered office service. This type of address service is available from company formation agents, like 1st Formations and other third-party address providers.
As part of this service, junk mail is intercepted and discarded. Only statutory mail addressed to your company is forwarded to you by email and/or to your nominated contact address in the UK or overseas.
5. Flexibility
The mail that is delivered to your registered office is very important. You risk missing this mail if you travel or move home. Setting up a registered office service with mail forwarding offers greater flexibility in these circumstances.
If you choose to use 1st Formations’ Registered Office Service, all official mail is forwarded to you by email—free of charge—and a PDF copy is placed in your online customer account area. This ensures that no matter where you are in the world, all your important statutory mail is available to you in one place by simply logging into your 1st Formations account.
So, there you have it…
We hope you have found this blog helpful. If you would like to learn more about our Registered Office Service, please call our Customer Sales and Support Team on 020 3897 2233 or email [email protected].
Please note that the information provided in this article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, tax, or professional advice. While our aim is that the content is accurate and up to date, it should not be relied upon as a substitute for tailored advice from qualified professionals. We strongly recommend that you seek independent legal and tax advice specific to your circumstances before acting on any information contained in this article. We accept no responsibility or liability for any loss or damage that may result from your reliance on the information provided in this article. Use of the information contained in this article is entirely at your own risk.
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Comments (8)
I have a legal 12 months tenancy agreement on a house and just found out the landlord business has this address registered in Companies House. Is this ok?
Dear Anne,
Unfortunately, we can’t provide specific advice, however in the first instance you may wish to raise this with your Landlord directly. It’s possible your tenancy agreement may cover matters such as this, so perhaps you will want to check this.
Kind regards,
The 1st Formations Team
Does a registered office address need to be registered for AML? So if an accountancy firm want to use somewhere local for their registered office ( a village center hall/shop) do they have to be registered with HMRC for AML?
Thank you for your enquiry, Alison.
What determines whether an organisation (such as an accountancy firm, or otherwise) needs to be registered for anti-money laundering (AML) supervision with HMRC is determined by:
1. The types of service that that company is undertaking and whether this falls under the supervisory requirements laid out in the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Amendment) Regulations 2019
2. Whether that organisation is already supervised by another body prescribed in the above regulations.
You will often find that accountancy firms are regulated for AML purposes by the appropriate accountancy body, and therefore they will not also need to be required to be supervised by HMRC.
With regards to the Registered office address, this would need to be provided to the relevant supervisory body, whether it was HMRC or an accountancy body.
We trust this information is of use to you.
Kind regards,
The 1st Formations Team
Can any one help if i gave permission for someone to use my address could it be for froud and how
Thank you for your kind enquiry, Mark.
With regards to addresses being used for fraud, the most common reasons for this are likely to be the following:
– Obtain a business bank account where they otherwise could not pass compliance checks
– Committing VAT fraud by charging for VAT but not paying it, then being uncontactable when HMRC investigate the company and visit the address
– Criminal activity could be carried out via a limited company and the address is being used to shield the perpetrator.
We would strongly advise that members of the public do not allow other limited companies to register at their address unless they have full knowledge of that company’s activities – even then, it is probably not a good idea.
We trust this information is of use.
Kind regards,
The 1st Formations Team
Thanks for this, Matt – great article.
It can be difficult, time-consuming and expensive if your company has, at some point in its life, reported your home address was used as a registered office, and you no longer want that to appear on the public record – so very prudent advice to avoid using your home address altogether!
Nick
Thanks for taking the time to comment, it’s much appreciated!
That’s right – when it comes to protecting your privacy, it’s far easier if you use registered office service from the start.
Regards,
The 1st Formations Team