Registered office address services are typically billed once a year, and the price comes down to two things: where the address is and what's included. As a concrete example, MVOS provides a prestigious Belgravia registered office for £199 a year (under £20 a month, excluding VAT). Here's what actually drives the cost, and where the one-off Companies House fee fits in.

How much does a registered office address cost?

There's no single market price; it depends on the provider and the address. At MVOS, a registered office at 20 Grosvenor Place, Belgravia is £199 a year (or £24.99 a month on a rolling contract), excluding VAT, and that includes receiving your statutory post and scanning it to your secure portal. Cheaper options exist elsewhere, but they usually mean a less prestigious postcode, no mail scanning, or both.

That last point matters more than it first looks. Two addresses can carry very different prices and still both be "just an address" on paper. The difference is what happens after the post arrives. One provider hands you a compliant line of text on the public register. Another hands you the address, handles the statutory post, and scans every item to a portal you can read from anywhere. You're not really comparing two prices. You're comparing two services that happen to share a name.

So when you see a figure, the useful question isn't "is this cheap or expensive?" It's "cheap or expensive for what, exactly?"

What's separate: the Companies House fee

Don't confuse the address service with the cost of forming the company. To register a new limited company, Companies House charges a £100 fee to file online (as of 1 February 2026), a one-off cost (gov.uk). Your registered office address is a separate, ongoing yearly service.

It's an easy thing to muddle, so here's the plain version. The £100 is paid once, to the government, to bring the company into existence. The address fee is paid to a provider, year after year, to keep a real address on the public register and to handle the post that lands there. They cover different things, and one never replaces the other.

A quick worked example. Say you incorporate today and use a registered office service from the start. You'd pay the £100 to Companies House once, and the address fee on its own renewal cycle after that. Next year there's no second £100. There's only the address renewal. Keeping the two in separate mental boxes saves a lot of confusion at renewal time. If you ever need to move that address later, our guide on how to change your registered office address walks through it.

What makes one address cost more than another?

A few things move the price:

  • Location. A Mayfair or Belgravia postcode commands more than a regional address, because the address is public and shapes how your company looks.
  • Mail handling. Does the price include receiving, scanning and uploading your post, or just the address?
  • What it covers. Can the same address also be your director's service address and your business address? One address doing all three is better value than paying separately.
  • Contract. Annual billing is usually cheaper per month than a rolling monthly contract.

Location: you're paying for the postcode

The address is public, so it's effectively part of your company's first impression. A prestigious district reads differently to a customer, a supplier or a bank than a generic out-of-town estate. That's why a Belgravia or Mayfair postcode tends to sit at the higher end. You're not paying for extra square footage. You're paying for what the postcode signals to anyone who looks your company up.

Mail handling: an address, or an address plus a service?

This is the line item people most often overlook. Some prices buy you the bare address and nothing else: the post arrives, and the rest is your problem. Others, including the MVOS £199-a-year service, include receiving your statutory post and scanning it straight to your portal. If you travel, work from different places, or run the company from overseas, that scanning is the part that quietly does the heavy lifting. Want the detail on how the address itself works first? Start with what a registered office address is.

What it covers: one address or three

A company often needs more than one official address: the registered office, the director's service address, and a business or trading address. You can buy those separately, or you can use one address that plays all three roles. The single-address route is usually the better value, simply because you're not paying three times for what one good address can do. If you're unclear on the difference between them, our explainer on the registered office, service and business address lays it out side by side.

Contract: annual versus rolling

The same address can carry two prices depending on how you pay. Annual billing is usually cheaper per month. With MVOS that's the £199-a-year option, which lands under £20 a month. The rolling monthly contract is £24.99 a month, both excluding VAT. Rolling gives you flexibility; annual gives you the lower effective rate. Neither is "right"; it depends on how long you expect to need the address.

Is a cheap registered office address worth it?

Sometimes, if all you need is a compliant address to satisfy Companies House. But remember your registered office is public and represents your company. A budget address in a less reputable location is a false economy if a prestigious one costs only a little more.

Think about the trade-off in practice. The cheapest options usually cut one of two things: the prestige of the postcode, or the mail handling, or both. If you save a little and end up with an address that looks weak on the public register and leaves you chasing your own post, the saving wasn't really a saving. The honest test is simple. Work out what's actually included, then ask whether the cheaper price buys you the same thing or a thinner version of it.

There's a non-UK angle worth flagging too. If you're running the company from abroad, the scanning is often the deciding factor, because you can't pop in to collect post. We cover that case in our guide for non-UK residents.

See exactly what's included with our registered office service, or if you're forming the company too, our company formation page shows how the address fits alongside the one-off £100 Companies House fee.