This blog post was originally posted in 2021. Visit our guidance page for the latest information on this topic.
The Companies House register is inspected thousands of times a day by people wanting to do business with your company. For this reason, the information you provide when setting up your company, any subsequent changes and your annual filings are made publicly available for anyone to inspect. To benefit from limited liability, your company details must be open and transparent.
One of the most frequent requests we receive from directors is to remove their personal address from the register.
Registered office address
Every company on the register needs to supply a registered office address. This must be a physical address and not a PO Box. You can only use a PO Box address if you also provide the full address of the physical building, including post code.
Your company’s registered office address must be in the same part of the UK that the company was incorporated – England and Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland.
If you’ve used your home address as your registered office address it will appear on the public register. We do not have the legal power to remove a home address that’s been used as a company’s registered office.
You can change your registered office address, but any previous addresses you’ve used as a registered office will remain on the public register for the lifetime of the company and 20 years after the company has been dissolved.
Correspondence and home addresses
As a director of a company, you need to supply 2 addresses, one where we can send correspondence (a correspondence address) and the second, your home address (or usual residential address).
Your correspondence address appears on the public register, for all to see. Your usual residential address is kept on a private register that’s only available to certain public authorities such as the police.
If you’ve given the same address for both purposes then your private, home address will appear on the public register.
If you do not want your home address to be available on the register, you have a few options.
You can simply supply a different address, this could be:
- your accountant
- business adviser
- your registered office address
You must have permission to use the address, and the company must be contactable at the address given. Alternatively, there are many companies who will provide you with a director correspondence address for a fee.
If you’re thinking, “My home address is showing as the correspondence address on my director’s listing, can I change it?” The answer is yes.
- Go to the Companies House service and find your company.
- Select the file for this company tab and follow the instructions.
- Enter the new address and submit the changes.
- Your home address no longer appears as your correspondence address on your director’s listing.
Your home address might still appear on other documents on your company’s filing history.
Other documents
If your home address appears on other documents, such as a form to appoint a director, then you can apply to remove your home address. There’s a fee of £32 to remove an address from each document. You’ll need to know which documents contain your home address. You can do this by looking through your company details on the Companies House register.
You cannot ask to remove your company’s registered office address, even if it’s a sensitive address like your home address.
Other information and other officers
As a director you’ll also need to supply other information such as your:
- name
- nationality
- occupation
- date of birth
These details appear on the register. For directors appointed after 10 October 2015, only the month and year from the date of birth is made publicly available.
Other people who take up positions in a company will also need to supply a correspondence address. These include:
- shareholders or guarantors
- company secretaries
- people with significant control
The same consideration needs to be made when providing their correspondence address.
If you do not want your private address to appear on the register, use an alternative as your correspondence address and your registered office address.
Scam emails
We’ll never contact you by email or telephone to find out who your officers are, or to ask for secure information such as addresses or authentication codes. Let us know if you receive an email or call claiming to be from Companies House.
12 comments
Comment by Roger Locke posted on
Hi
With respect, you are not be fully truthful when you say that "Only the month and year from the date of birth is made publicly available." The date of birth along with a copy of a directors signatures, can often be found easily in filing data.
Plus, wouldn't it be more honest and fair to say that for the benefit of being Ltd, that you are striped of any right to protect your personal information from abuse; as there is absolutely nothing an individual can do to prevent it happening.
Kind regards
Roger Locke
Comment by Jonathan Moyle - Digital content manager posted on
Hi Roger,
Thanks for reading, and thank you for your comment.
The legislation to redact a director’s full date of birth was introduced on 10 October 2015 under the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act. It applies to directors appointed on or after this date. I’ve updated the blog post for clarification.
Here's guidance on how to protect your personal information:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/companies-house-guidance-for-limited-companies-partnerships-and-other-company-types#protecting-your-personal-information
Comment by Patrick James Mclaughlin posted on
Would I be able to use company House as an address as a Partner Stripes and many other companies
Comment by Jodie John - Digital Content Designer posted on
Hi Patrick,
Every company on the register needs to supply a registered office address. This must be a physical address and not a PO Box. You can only use a PO Box address if you also provide the full address of the physical building, including post code. Your company address will be publicly available on the online register. You cannot remove the address from the register.
Comment by Orlando posted on
Can you enter Scottish rather than British as your nationality with Companies House?
Comment by Jodie John - Digital Content Designer posted on
Hi Orlando,
You can use Scottish as your nationality on Companies House forms. See a full list of nationalities you can use when completing our forms.
Comment by Catherine posted on
Sorry l’m confused.
Am l right in thinking that there is a section on companies house site that offers a business address & is this address just the government or is it for other business correspondence.
Plz clarify
Comment by Jodie John - Digital Content Designer posted on
Dear Catherine,
You must provide a registered office address when you set up a limited company. This is where all written communication must be sent. If you choose to use a third party agent to handle your mail, you must make sure that the service includes sending all of your company’s mail to your registered office address.
As a director of a company, you need to supply 2 addresses, one where we can send correspondence (a correspondence address) and the second, your home address (or usual residential address). You must have permission to use the address, and the company must be contactable at the address given. Alternatively, there are many companies who will provide you with a director correspondence address for a fee.
Comment by Thomas posted on
Can other director change my address without my signature
Comment by Luke C posted on
Hi Thomas. Thank you for your question.
Yes, Companies House would accept the notification of the change of registered office address signed (or authenticated if filed online) by one of the directors or an authorised signatory on behalf of the company.
Comment by Harjinder posted on
Hi, my name shows on various sites with my accounts is there any way to not dhow the directors name and date of birth?
Thanks
Comment by Luke C posted on
Hi there,
In return for the benefits of limited liability, a company must be open and transparent. Anyone who becomes a director of a company must be prepared for some of their details to be publicly accessible. Companies House has a statutory duty to collect that information and make it available. This includes a full name, service address and the month and year of their birth