One question that we always get asked, is can I register a business at my home address? And by this, we presume that people mean registering a Limited Company, as trading from the home address. Whilst you might like there to be a direct yes or no answer to this, the real answer is, it depends.
Read more: Can I register a Business at my home address?Let’s first of all look at the requirements of an address for a business to be registered in the UK. The address must not be a PO box (I doubt you live in a PO box), must be able to receive mail, and be in the same country where the business is registered (England and Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland). This address is also made public.
Now we know the requirements, it may well be suitable to use your home address for the business. If you don’t mind this being made public, and you live in a physical location. Many people nowadays live as digital nomads either in vans or travel between Airbnb and similar, and so the places where they live, may not be practical.
The next step to consider is the ownership of your property. Do you own a freehold property? If you do, then there really isn’t anything stopping you. If you own a leasehold, it’s always worth checking the lease. It may contain a line about ‘Not to use for business activity’ or similar to that. Originally these clauses were designed to stop people from setting up as cobblers etc within their premises, but these have now extended out to other business activities. It’s always worth checking and asking the freeholders permission, just to make absolutely sure.
If you rent your property, it’s always good just to check with your landlord and see if they approve of you registering your business at the address. If they do, then no problem. However, some will not quite understand what it means and may deny you permission. There is also the possibility that people move around a lot, and every time you move, you will be required to change the address with Companies House.
In summary, if you have a freehold property, or permission from the property owner / your landlord then yes you can use your address as your businesses registered address as long as it meets the requirements at the start of this post. But, you need to be aware that this will remain on publically accessible records. Even for Limited companies that close, or change address, you can still scroll back and see previous addresses.
If you don’t want every Tom, Dick and Harry knowing where you live, then our Virtual Office Address service is perfect for you. You get an address in the middle of Hastings town, and all the correspondence can be sent direct to us, keeping your home address secret.