When forming a limited company, some individuals use their home address for official purposes. This can be problematic because the information becomes part of the public record at Companies House. Fortunately, you can apply to remove your home address from the Companies House register in certain situations.
Below, we explain the current rules on suppressing residential address details on the public register, including new measures relating to home addresses used as a registered office. We also discuss how to report a company if it is using your name or address without your consent.
This post’s reference to ‘company’ also includes limited liability partnerships (LLPs), Scottish qualifying partnerships (SQPs), and UK Societates.
If you’ve used your home address as your service address
The process to remove your home address from public disclosure on the Companies House register is quite simple if you’ve only used it as your service address (also known as a director’s service address or correspondence address). In this situation, you can ask Companies House to:
- remove it from any filings made since 2003 that are shown on the public register
- withhold the address from credit reference agencies (in certain circumstances)
You must apply and pay for these suppression of information requests separately, as outlined below.
1. Apply to remove your address from the public register
You can ask Companies House (the ‘Registrar’) to remove your home address from any publicly available documents associated with a company. To do so, you must download form SR01 and provide the following details:
- Title and full name
- Any former name(s) used for business purposes in the past 20 years
- Date of birth
- A correspondence address for the Registrar to contact you about your application
- Email address
- The home address you want to remove from the public register
- New service address (unless the company is dissolved or you no longer hold a position that requires a service address)
At the end of the form, you need to list all documents on the public register that show your home address connected to your name. For each document, you must provide the following details:
- Company registration number
- Company name in full
- Document title or filing type – e.g. AP01 Appointment of director
- Registration date – this is the date on which the document was registered at Companies House
You must provide this information for each document, so you may need to complete an SR01 continuation page. It costs £30 to remove your home address from each document.
You can find out which documents contain your home address by searching the public register at Companies House. Simply follow these steps:
- Visit the Companies House search service
- Enter the company name in the search bar
- Click on the company name from the list of results
- Select the ‘Filing history’ tab under the company name
- Scroll through all filings and make a note of the documents containing your home address
In most cases, there will only be a few documents containing your home address, so it shouldn’t take too long.
How to pay the fee and file the form
You need to pay the fee online using GOV.UK Pay before sending form SR01 to Companies House. You’ll find the payment link on the page that contains the downloadable form.
Upon completion of payment, you’ll receive a reference. You must include this payment reference when you send your SR01 application to Companies House. If you fail to do so, the Registrar will reject your form.
The quickest way to file form SR01 is to email a digital copy to dsr@companieshouse.gov.uk. This will allow Companies House to process your application without delay.
Alternatively, you can send the form with a cheque or postal order to the following address:
The Registrar of Companies
PO Box 408
Cardiff
CF14 3WE
Be aware that it takes much longer for the Registrar to process paper applications and documents received by post.
You’ll receive a letter to confirm receipt of your application. Once processed, Companies House will send you a notice with their decision within 5 days.
If your application is accepted, your home address will be removed from the documents listed on form SR01. However, there is no exact timeframe for this—it will depend on current processing times and the number of documents containing your address.
List of documents that may include your home address as your service address
Your home address may appear on several different documents or filings if you’ve used it as your service address. Some examples include:
- Application to register a company (form IN01)
- Application for the incorporation of a Limited Liability Partnership (LL IN01)
- Appointment of a director (form AP01)
- Change of details of a director (CH01)
- Confirmation statement (or annual return, as it was previously known)
- Notice of individual person with significant control (PSC01)
Companies House provide a full list of documents. You can only apply to remove your home address from documents on the list.
2. Apply to withhold your address from credit reference agencies
You can ask Companies House to withhold your home address from credit reference agencies if you are at risk of violence or intimidation due to your company’s work. You’ll need to provide proof of this, such as:
- A police incident number
- Documentary evidence of a threat or attack (e.g. photographs or recordings)
- Evidence of possible disruption or targeting (e.g. by activists)
- Evidence that you’re associated with an organisation whose activities put you at risk
You can request an application form by emailing dsr@companieshouse.gov.uk or calling Companies House on 0303 1234 500. It costs £100 to apply. You’ll find the return address and payment details on the form you receive.
Who must provide a service address?
Companies House requires a service address for any person who holds one of the following positions:
- Subscriber (a shareholder or guarantor who becomes a member of a company during incorporation)
- Company officer (a director or company secretary)
- Person with significant control (PSC)
- Member of a limited liability partnership
- Member of a Scottish qualifying partnership
- Subscriber, member, PSC, or officer of a UK Societas
- Officer or permanent representative of an overseas company
The service address is the individual’s official contact address, where they elect to receive statutory communications from Companies House, HMRC, and other government agencies. It appears on certain filings made to the Registrar, most of which are publicly available on the Companies House register.
If you’ve used your home address as a registered office
Currently, you cannot remove your home address from documents on the Companies House register if you’ve ever used it as a registered office address. While you can change the address of your registered office at any time, previous addresses will still appear on certain publicly available documents in your company’s filing history.
However, under new measures introduced in the Economic Crime & Corporate Transparency Act 2023, individuals will be able to suppress the following details from historical documents on the Companies House register:
- a residential address (in most instances) when it has appeared on the register as a registered office address (see below note regarding a current registered office address that is a residential address)
- day of birth for documents with a registration date before 10 October 2015 (since that date, only the month and year of birth have been publicly displayed)
- signatures
- business occupation
- name (current or previous) – in the most serious of cases, all required personal details (e.g. service address and partial date of birth) may be suppressed where evidence is produced showing that the individual is at serious risk of violence or intimidation
- sensitive addresses where evidence is produced showing that the residents are at serious risk of violence or intimidation (e.g. a women’s refuge)
Under certain circumstances, the individual will need to provide new information to Companies House before existing information can be suppressed. For example, where a residential or sensitive address is being used as a company’s current registered office, a new registered office address must be provided before suppression can take place.
Furthermore, where a residential address is used as a registered office at the time of company dissolution, an application to suppress the address from public disclosure may only be made after a period of 6 months from the date of dissolution.
Certain groups, such as law enforcement agencies and other public authorities, will continue to have access to suppressed and protected information where necessary.
These new measures will come into effect over the next few years once the relevant secondary legislation is passed. We will update this guidance as more information becomes available.
If a company is using your home address without your permission
You can also apply to remove your home address from the Companies House register if you discover someone is using it as a registered office or service address without your permission.
To do so, you must complete form RP07 and send it to Companies House online or by post. You’ll also need to provide supporting evidence proving you have authority over the address.
Similarly, you can report a company to the Registrar if it is using your name without consent as director, company secretary, or person with significant control.
You can find out more in GOV.UK’s guidance on how to report a company using your personal details without your permission.
How long does it take Companies House to remove a home address?
Companies House does not provide a minimum or expected timeframe for removing a home address from the public register. It depends on current processing times and the number of documents containing your address.
However, the average turnaround for processing reports of false addresses is 35 days.
Where Companies House accepts an application to remove an unauthorised registered office address, they will immediately replace it with a default address on the public register. The company then has 28 days to provide a suitable alternative address as its registered office.
How to keep your home address private at Companies House
Corporate transparency is one of the requirements of limited company formation. This is why certain information, such as directors’ names and service addresses, is disclosed on the Companies House register.
However, problems can arise if a person uses their home address as a registered office or service address. While it may seem harmless enough, disclosing a residential address on the public record can create privacy problems and increase the risk of fraud, identity theft, and other types of harm.
According to research by Cifas, the UK’s leading fraud prevention service, company directors are twice as likely to fall victim to identity fraud. Although dating back to 2017, it was this research that prompted the change in law allowing an individual to remove their home address from the Companies House register.
Certain details will always remain in the public domain when running a business as a limited company, but there are steps you can take to minimise risk.
One of the best ways to protect your privacy is to use a non-residential address as a registered office and service address. You can purchase professional address services from a third-party provider if you don’t have commercial premises.
Set up a professional registered office or service address
At Rapid Formations, we provide a London Registered Office Address and Scottish Registered Office Address for £39.00 per year. These services are suitable for companies incorporated in England and Wales or Scotland, respectively.
We also offer professional Service Addresses in London and Glasgow, priced at £26 per year and £24 per year, respectively. These are ideal for anyone who needs to provide an official correspondence address to Companies House.
You can purchase our address services separately for a new or existing company or include them in several of our company formation packages.
Our London or Glasgow address will appear on the Companies House register as your registered office and/or service address, thus protecting your home address and personal privacy.
All statutory mail from Companies House, HMRC, and other government bodies will be delivered to your London or Glasgow address. Our professional Mail team will scan and email it to you on the same day.
Thanks for reading
Please comment below if you have any questions. You can also contact us directly if you’d like to speak to someone about our company formation or address services.
Explore the Rapid Formations Blog for more limited company guidance and small business advice.
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.
Thanks for the article! Thanks for these company house register tips. This info will be useful for my own UK accountants business, Nacstaccs.
Hi David,
Thank you for your kind comment!
We are very pleased that you will be able to use this information for your accounting business.
Kind regards,
The Rapid Formations Team.