Why Is My Residential Address Showing on Companies House?

If your home address is appearing on Companies House, the first thing to establish is which type of address has been published. A UK company director must provide Companies House with a residential address, but a director’s usual residential address is generally kept on a private register rather than displayed publicly. The address that normally appears on the public register is the director’s service address, which is used for official correspondence.

The problem usually occurs when a director has used their home address as a service address or registered office, or when an address has been included in a document that is publicly available. This distinction matters because the solution depends on how the address got onto the register.

Is a director’s home address normally public on Companies House?

No. Companies House requires directors to provide their usual residential address, but that information is held privately. It is not normally displayed on the public register. Companies House may disclose residential address information to credit reference agencies and specified public authorities in accordance with its rules.

Directors must also provide a service address, sometimes called a correspondence address. This address is public. A service address can be:

• The company’s registered office
• The director’s home address
• An accountant’s or solicitor’s address
• Another suitable address where the director has permission to receive correspondence

If you use your home address as your service address, it can therefore appear publicly on Companies House.

The three addresses you should understand

For most company directors, there are three potentially relevant address concepts:

Confusing these addresses is one of the most common reasons founders believe Companies House has accidentally published their home address.

Why is my residential address showing publicly?

There are several possible explanations.

1. You used your home address as the service address

This is one of the most common situations. When incorporating a company, you are asked for both residential and service-address information for directors. If your home address was entered as the service address, that address can appear publicly. For example, imagine a founder lives at: 25 Example Road, London

They provide that address as both their residential address and service address during incorporation. Companies House will keep the residential-address information privately, but the service address can be displayed on the public register. The issue is therefore not necessarily that Companies House has exposed the private residential-address field. Instead, the same address was supplied in a field intended to be public.

2. You used your home as the company's registered office

A UK company must have an appropriate registered office address. Some founders, particularly people starting small businesses from home, use their residential address as the registered office. That is permitted in principle, but the registered office is public.

Companies House explicitly warns that if a home address is used as the company's registered office, it will be available publicly. This can be particularly important for:

• Freelancers
• Consultants
• Online businesses
• Ecommerce founders
• Home-based startups
• Non-UK founders using a UK company structure

If privacy is important, a founder may instead use an appropriate registered office service, provided the address meets Companies House requirements and the company has permission to use it.

3. Your address appears in an older filing

Another possibility is that your address was included in a document filed with Companies House. Companies House makes many company documents publicly available, including filing-history documents. This means that changing your current address does not necessarily make every historical reference disappear automatically. For example, you might have:

1. Incorporated the company using your home address.
2. Later changed the registered office.
3. Later changed the director's service address.
4. Still found the old home address in an earlier document.

Companies House advises individuals to search the register to identify which documents contain their personal information before applying for removal.

4. The wrong address was filed

In some cases, the address was never supposed to be public. For example, a filing might have accidentally placed a director's residential address into a service-address field. This is different from deliberately using your home address as your service address.

If the information is incorrect, the appropriate correction or rectification process may be available depending on the document and circumstances. Companies House has procedures for dealing with incorrect addresses, including applications involving disputed service or principal office addresses.

5. Someone used your address without permission

This is a more serious situation. You may discover that your home address has been associated with a company you have never operated or authorised. Do not assume that changing your own company details will solve this.

You should identify exactly where your address appears, gather evidence showing your connection to the address, and contact Companies House about the inappropriate information. Companies House has powers and procedures for dealing with certain inaccurate or improperly filed information.

How to check why your address is appearing

Before submitting an application to Companies House, investigate the source of the address.

Step 1: Search for your company

Use the Companies House company search service and open your company's record. Check:

• Registered office
• Current directors
• Director service addresses
• PSC information
• Filing history
• Previous filings

Companies House provides public company information and allows users to view documents and company changes.

Step 2: Look at the exact address

Ask yourself:

Is it the registered office?

If yes, your home address is being displayed because you used it as the company's registered office.

Is it the director's service address?

If yes, it was supplied as the public correspondence address.

Is it only visible in a historical document?

If yes, you may need a personal-information removal process rather than simply changing the current service address.

Is it an address you never provided?

If yes, treat it as an inaccurate or potentially unauthorised filing and investigate further.

How to stop your home address appearing on Companies House

The solution depends on the source.

If your home is the registered office

You can change the company's registered office to another appropriate address. For most companies, this can be done online with Companies House. The company must notify Companies House within 14 days of the change, and the new registered office becomes effective when it is registered.

The replacement address must satisfy Companies House requirements. It is not simply a matter of entering any postal address. A registered office should be a suitable UK address where company correspondence can be delivered and where documents can be appropriately received.

If your home is the director's service address

You can change the service address to another appropriate address. This could, depending on your circumstances, be:

• The company's registered office
• A professional adviser’s address
• A suitable registered-office or correspondence service
• Another address where you have permission to receive company correspondence

The important point is that the new service address must be appropriate for receiving official communications.

What happens to the old address?

Changing your current address does not necessarily mean every historical reference disappears. Companies House explains that previous addresses and information contained in historic filings can remain publicly available. If your home address appears in an eligible historical document, you may be able to apply to have the personal information removed.

Can Companies House remove my home address?

Sometimes, yes. Companies House has a specific process for individuals who want to remove certain personal details from the public register. Form SR01 can be used by an individual to apply to remove certain personal information, including a home address, from qualifying documents. The current published fee is £34 for each document listed in an application. However, this does not mean every occurrence of an address can simply be deleted. You first need to identify:

• Which document contains the address
• Why the address was filed
• Whether it is eligible for removal
• Whether another filing needs to be corrected
• Whether a different Companies House procedure applies

This is why checking the filing history first is important.

What if I am at risk because my address is connected to my company?

There is a separate protection regime for directors, PSCs and certain other individuals who face a serious risk of violence or intimidation because of their company's activities or their circumstances associated with the company.

Companies House updated its guidance on this process in August 2026. Evidence may be required to support an application. Examples can include situations involving:

• Targeting by activists
• Certain defence-related activities
• Certain animal research activities
• Other circumstances creating a serious risk of violence or intimidation

This is not simply a general privacy request. The protection process has specific eligibility requirements. Importantly, you cannot protect your home address under this process if it is also the company's registered office. The company would generally need an appropriate replacement address.

What if I am a non-UK resident?

The same distinction between residential, service and registered-office addresses is important for international founders. A director does not have to live in the UK, but a UK company must have a UK registered office.

For a founder living overseas, using a professional UK address for the company's registered office and, where appropriate, the director's service address can help keep the founder's overseas residential address separate from public company correspondence.

This is particularly relevant to founders setting up UK companies remotely from countries such as Nigeria, India, the UAE, the United States, Canada and Australia. A platform such as IncorpUK, which operates as a UK company formation and management platform for global founders, may be relevant where founders need support with UK company addresses and ongoing company administration.

Can I use a virtual address instead?

Potentially, but "virtual address" is not a single legal category. What matters is whether the address you use satisfies the requirements for the particular purpose. A company registered office needs to be an appropriate address. A director's service address also needs to meet the relevant requirements for receiving correspondence. Before paying for an address service, check:

• Whether the address can legally be used as a registered office
• Whether mail is accepted and handled
• Whether official documents are forwarded or scanned
• Whether the service covers your company's jurisdiction
• Whether the provider gives you permission to use the address
• What happens if the subscription expires
• How quickly you are notified about Companies House or legal correspondence

The cheapest address is not necessarily the safest choice if important statutory correspondence can be missed.

What should you do if you have already used your home address?

Don't panic, but deal with it promptly. A practical approach is:

1. Identify every public occurrence

Check the company profile and filing history.

2. Separate current information from historical information

A current registered office or service address is handled differently from an old document.

3. Replace the public address where appropriate

If your home is currently being used as the registered office or service address, arrange an appropriate alternative.

4. Investigate historical documents

If the address appears in old filings, determine whether an SR01 or another correction/removal process is appropriate.

5. Check whether there is a genuine safety risk

If you face a serious risk of violence or intimidation, review the Companies House protection process and supporting evidence requirements.

6. Check third-party websites

Company-data websites may copy information from Companies House. Companies House notes that it does not control third-party websites displaying company information. Consequently, removing information from Companies House does not necessarily mean every third-party website will immediately remove its copy.

A common mistake: changing the address but ignoring the filing history

One of the biggest misunderstandings is assuming that changing today's address automatically erases yesterday's information. It doesn't necessarily work that way. Companies House is designed as a public corporate record, and historical filings can remain part of the record. That means privacy planning is best done before incorporation or before submitting a public filing, rather than after personal information has already been published. For founders who care about privacy, the address strategy should be considered alongside:

• Registered office arrangements
• Director service addresses
• PSC information
• Mail handling
• Companies House filing procedures
• Business banking correspondence
• HMRC correspondence
• Legal document delivery

This is especially important for founders running companies from their homes or managing UK companies from overseas.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is my residential address public on Companies House?

Normally, no. Your usual residential address is collected by Companies House but is generally kept off the public register. Your service address and registered office address, however, are public.

Why can I see my home address on Companies House?

The most common reasons are that you used your home as your service address, used it as the company's registered office, or your address appears in a historical filing.

Can I remove my home address from Companies House?

In qualifying circumstances, yes. Form SR01 can be used by an individual to apply to remove certain personal details from public documents. The current published fee is £34 per document.

Can I hide my address if I am a director?

Your residential address is normally already private. If your home address is being used publicly as your service address or registered office, you generally need to replace the public address rather than simply asking Companies House to hide a valid registered office.

Can I use my accountant's address as my director service address?

A director can use another appropriate address as a service address where they have authority to use it and it meets the relevant requirements. Companies House gives examples including professional advisers' addresses.

What if someone used my home address without permission?

Check exactly where the address appears and gather evidence showing that it was used without authorisation. Contact Companies House promptly because different procedures may apply to inaccurate, disputed or unauthorised information.

Will changing my registered office remove my old home address?

Not necessarily. The new registered office changes the current company information, but historical filings may continue to show the previous address.

Can a non-UK resident keep their home address private?

Yes, provided the correct address fields and appropriate public addresses are used. A director's residential address is generally not public, while the UK company's registered office must be a suitable UK address.

Can Companies House protect my address because I am concerned about privacy?

General privacy concerns are different from the serious-risk protection process. Protection applications for directors and PSCs require a serious risk of violence or intimidation connected with the company's activities or relevant circumstances.

Conclusion

If your residential address is showing on Companies House, the key question is not simply "Why has Companies House published my home address?" It is "Which Companies House record or filing contains my address, and in what capacity was it provided?" In most cases, a director's usual residential address is private. A service address and registered office, however, are public. If you used your home address for either of those purposes, its appearance on the public register is expected.

The practical solution is to identify the source, replace a public home address where appropriate, and separately investigate historical documents that may contain your personal information. If the information was filed incorrectly or without authorisation, a different correction or rectification process may apply.

For founders, especially those operating from home or running a UK company from overseas, deciding how addresses will be used should be part of the company-formation process not an issue to solve after personal information has already entered the public record.