Yes, you can legally use your home address as your registered office. There's no law against it. But your registered office is public, so your home address becomes permanently linked to your company on a register anyone can search. For most founders, that privacy trade-off is the deciding factor.

Can I use my home address as my registered office?

Yes. Companies House lets you use your home as your registered office, provided it's a real UK address in the same jurisdiction your company is registered in (England & Wales, Scotland, or Northern Ireland). You don't need to own it, but you do need to be able to receive official post there (gov.uk).

Your registered office is simply the official address Companies House keeps for your company. It's where government post goes, and it's shown on the public register. A flat, a house, a room you rent: all fine, as long as it's a genuine address in the right jurisdiction.

One thing to watch: the jurisdiction can't change after you incorporate. If your company is registered in England & Wales, the registered office must stay in England & Wales. You can move it from your home to another English address, but you can't shift it to Scotland or overseas.

Will my home address be public?

Yes, and this is the catch. Your registered office is published on the Companies House register, which anyone can search for free on the official Find and update company information service. Once it's on there, your home address is tied to your name and company in public records, and it's often picked up by search engines and third-party data sites too.

Think about what that means in practice. Type your company name into a search engine and your home address may sit right beside it. Customers, suppliers, competitors and cold callers can all find it. So can anyone who simply wants to know where you live.

There's a second wrinkle. Even if you later change your registered office, older copies of the data may linger on third-party sites that scraped the register earlier. The official register updates the moment you file, but the wider internet doesn't always follow.

What are the risks of using your home address?

It's legal, but there are real downsides:

  • Privacy: your home address is public and searchable, indefinitely.
  • Unwanted mail and callers: your address attracts marketing post and, occasionally, unannounced visitors.
  • Professional image: a residential address can look less established to customers and suppliers.
  • Tenancy or mortgage terms: some agreements restrict running a business from the property, so check yours.

What does this look like for a real founder?

Take a freelance designer running a limited company from a rented flat. List the flat as the registered office and that address appears next to the company name on the public register. Months later, marketing post starts arriving, and a client mentions they "found where you're based". Nothing went wrong, exactly. It just wasn't what they pictured.

Now take an e-commerce seller packing orders from a spare room at home. Their returns address, their listings and their registered office can all point to the same residential street. For a business that deals with strangers and parcels, that's a lot of personal exposure for very little gain.

Do I need my landlord's or lender's permission?

Often, yes, so check before you file. Some tenancy agreements and mortgage terms restrict running a business from the property, so listing a rented or mortgaged home as your registered office may breach them. The registered office rule itself doesn't require ownership, but your own contract might say more (gov.uk).

This catches people out. You're allowed to use an address you rent, so the company-law side is fine. The problem sits in your lease or mortgage, not in Companies House rules. A quick read of your agreement, or a short message to your landlord, saves a lot of awkwardness later.

Does my home address meet the "appropriate address" rule?

It can. Since 4 March 2024, every registered office must be an "appropriate address": somewhere official post is expected to reach a real person, and where delivery can be acknowledged. Your home usually qualifies; a PO box on its own does not (gov.uk). If you can reliably receive and acknowledge Companies House and HMRC post at home, it meets the rule.

So the practical test is simple. Will a letter posted to that address actually reach you, and can delivery be acknowledged? Live at home most of the time and the answer is usually yes. The rule mainly rules out shortcuts like a bare PO box with nobody attached to it.

How can I keep my home address private instead?

Two common options:

  • A service address. Separate from the registered office, this is a director's official contact address. It's public, but it keeps your residential address private, which Companies House protects (gov.uk).
  • A registered office service. A provider gives your company a professional address to use as its registered office (and often a service address too), keeping your home off the register entirely. That's exactly what our registered office service does.

It's worth being clear on the difference, because it trips a lot of founders up. A service address protects your residential address as a director. But your registered office is always public. So if you use your home as the registered office, a service address alone won't hide it. The only way to keep your home off the register is to give the company a different registered office address entirely.

That's where a provider like us comes in. With MVOS your company uses a prestigious London address at 20 Grosvenor Place, Belgravia, as its registered office, and your post is scanned to you digitally, so nothing lands on your doormat and your home stays off the public record. It's a popular route for founders working from home, including non-UK residents who need a real UK address without a UK doorstep. To be clear, that's our service, not a Companies House endorsement of any provider.

For the difference between the three address types, see our guide on registered office vs service address vs business address. For the full picture of what a registered office is and the rules around it, see what a registered office address is. And if cost is your main question, here's how much a registered office address costs.

I've already used my home address — can I change it?

Yes, and it's free. You can change your registered office at any time through Companies House, online or by filing form AD01, and the change takes effect once it's registered (gov.uk). Here's the step-by-step on how to change your registered office address.

There's no penalty and no limit on how often you can switch. So if you started with your home address to get the company filed quickly, you're not stuck with it. Many founders do exactly that: incorporate first, tidy up the address afterwards.