How to Remove Your Address From Companies House (and Keep It Off)

To remove your home address from Companies House, first stop it appearing on new filings by changing your correspondence (service) address, and your company’s registered office if it’s your home, to a different address. Then apply to Companies House to remove your home address from documents already on the public register, using the application route described on gov.uk. There’s a fee for each document, and you’ll usually need to give a replacement address if you’re still an active director or person with significant control.

Many directors of small companies used their home address when they set up, without realizing it would be public, searchable and copied by other websites. This guide explains what Companies House shows, the options for taking your address off, and what changed under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023.

What Companies House makes public

Companies House keeps a public register that anyone can search free online. For directors, company secretaries and people with significant control (PSCs), it shows some details and keeps others private.

Detail	Public?	Notes
Name	Yes	Shown on the officer’s appointment record
Service (correspondence) address	Yes	The address where official post can reach you. It can be your home, but it doesn’t have to be
Usual residential address	No, in most cases	Held on a protected record. It becomes public if you gave it as your service address or it appears in the text of a document
Date of birth	Partly	Companies House says only the month and year are shown for most records; the full date is kept private. Some older documents may show the full date
Registered office address	Yes	The company’s official address. If it’s your home, your home is public
Nationality, country of residence, occupation	Generally yes	Occupation can appear on older appointment forms
Filed documents	Yes	Scanned forms, accounts and returns can show addresses and signatures from the time they were filed

The gap most people fall into is the last row. Even if your current record shows a service address, older filings from when you first registered the company may still show your home.

Step 1: Stop your home address appearing on new filings

Before removing anything historic, make sure you’re not adding your home address to the register again.

1. Change your service address. You can use any address where post will reliably reach you, such as your business premises, your accountant’s office or a professional service address provider. Update it through Companies House’s online filing service or the relevant form.
2. Change the registered office if it’s your home. The registered office has to be an appropriate address where documents can be delivered and acknowledged. Many small companies use their accountant’s or a formation agent’s address. Check the provider will actually forward post, because missing official letters can cause serious problems for the company.
3. Keep your residential address up to date privately. Companies House still needs your usual residential address on its protected record. Updating it doesn’t make it public, as long as you don’t use it as your service address.

Step 2: Apply to remove your home address from older documents

Changing addresses going forward doesn’t change documents already filed. For those, Companies House has an application process to remove certain personal details from the public register. Gov.uk describes it as covering your home address where it was used as a service address or registered office, and also some other details such as signatures, the day of your date of birth on some older documents, and your occupation where it had to be given.

The general process looks like this:

1. Find the documents. Search your name and each company on the Companies House register. Open the filing history and note every document that shows your home address.
2. Check you meet the conditions. If you’re still an active officer or PSC, you’ll usually need to provide a replacement address. If your home is the registered office of an active company, you normally need to change the registered office first. If the company has been dissolved, there may be a waiting period before you can apply. Gov.uk sets out the current conditions.
3. Complete the official application. Individuals use the application form published on gov.uk for removing personal details from the register. List each document you want changed.
4. Pay the fee. Companies House charges a fee for each document. Check the current amount on gov.uk before you send anything, and count your documents first, since the total adds up if your address appears on many filings.
5. Wait for the decision. Companies House reviews the application and tells you the outcome. Where it’s approved, the address on those documents is removed or replaced on the public register.

Only use gov.uk and Companies House itself for this. Any business offering to “remove you from Companies House” can’t do more than file the same application, and some charge heavily for it.

Extra protection if you’re at serious risk

Some people need more than an ordinary service address. Companies House has a separate process for directors and PSCs who can show they, or people living with them, face a serious risk of violence or intimidation because of the company’s activities. Gov.uk’s examples include people targeted by activists and people working in certain sensitive industries.

Approved applications can limit who Companies House shares your residential address with, including credit reference agencies. This route needs supporting evidence, such as police incident numbers or records of threats, and carries its own fee. Read the current guidance carefully and consider taking advice before you apply, especially if you’re already dealing with harassment. Our guide to what to do about online harassment covers the evidence side.

What the 2023 reforms changed

The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 gave Companies House new powers and duties, and introduced changes that affect directors and PSCs. In general terms:

• Registered email address. Companies must give Companies House a registered email address for official contact. Companies House says it isn’t shown on the public register.
• Appropriate registered office. The registered office must be an address where documents will come to the company’s attention and can be acknowledged. A PO box on its own generally isn’t enough.
• Identity verification. Directors, PSCs and people who file on a company’s behalf are being required to verify their identity. Companies House has been rolling this out in stages, so check what applies to you and by when.
• Stronger checks and powers. Companies House can query and remove information that looks false or misleading, and act on misuse of people’s details.
• More ways to protect personal information. The reforms widened the routes for individuals to have personal details, such as home addresses, taken off older filings.

Details and dates in this area have changed several times, so treat gov.uk as the source of truth rather than any blog post, including this one.

If someone used your address without permission

Some people discover their home is listed as the registered office of a company they’ve never heard of. That’s usually fraud or a mistake, not something you have to accept. Gov.uk has a process to report a company using your personal details or address without permission, and Companies House can act on it. Report it promptly, keep copies of everything, and consider telling Action Fraud if you think your identity is being misused. Our guide on what to do if your identity is stolen covers the wider steps.

A worked example

This is an illustrative scenario, not a real client. Tom set up a small consultancy company from his spare room years ago. He used his home address for everything. After a dispute with a former customer, he finds the customer has posted his address online, and he realizes it came from Companies House.

1. He signs up with a service address provider that forwards post, and his accountant agrees to act as the registered office.
2. He files the changes online so new records show the new addresses.
3. He goes through the filing history and finds his home address on the incorporation documents, his appointment form and several confirmation statements.
4. He applies to remove his home address from those documents, lists each one and pays the fee per document.
5. Separately, he asks the site hosting the customer’s post to remove his address under its privacy rules, and checks people-search sites that have copied his details.

Companies House was the source, but the address had already spread. Fixing both was necessary.

Copies elsewhere online

Company data is public, so other websites republish it: company information sites, business directories and people-search services. Updating Companies House doesn’t automatically update them, though many refresh from the register over time.

• Check the main company information sites for your name and old companies.
• Where a site shows your home address, use its correction or removal process and mention that the source record has changed.
• Ask Google to refresh results that still show old information once the page has changed. Our guide on how to remove your address from the internet covers these steps.
• If you’re registered to vote, also consider the open register opt out, since the open register is another common source of address data.

If the spread is wide or the situation is urgent, our content removal team can help you work out what can be removed and in what order.

Common mistakes

• Changing the service address and stopping there. Old documents still show your home until you apply to remove it.
• Using an address that doesn’t forward post. Missed official letters create bigger problems than the one you’re solving.
• Forgetting the registered office. If your company is registered at home, your home is public regardless of your service address.
• Missing documents. Go through the whole filing history, including for dissolved companies you were involved in.
• Paying a middleman for the official process. The application goes to Companies House either way.

Frequently asked questions

Can I remove my address from Companies House for free?

Changing your service address and registered office going forward doesn’t usually cost anything if you file it yourself. Removing your home address from documents already on the register carries a fee for each document. Check gov.uk for the current amount.

Is my home address public on Companies House?

Your usual residential address is kept on a protected record. It’s public only if you used it as your service address or registered office, or it appears in a filed document. Many older filings do show home addresses.

Can I remove my address if the company is dissolved?

Often yes, but there may be a waiting period after dissolution before you can apply. Gov.uk explains the current conditions for dissolved companies.

Does Companies House show my full date of birth?

Companies House says only the month and year are shown on most records, with the full date kept private. Some older documents may show the day as well, and you can apply to have it removed from those.

Should I talk to a lawyer?

For ordinary address changes you usually don’t need one. If you’re facing threats, a dispute or suspected fraud involving your company records, speaking to a solicitor or an accountant with company secretarial experience is sensible.