What is a registered office address?
What is a registered office for?
It is the address where official documents can be served on the company: court claims, statutory demands, letters from Companies House and HMRC. Every UK company must have one at all times, and it is published on the public register. It does not have to be where the company trades, so many small companies use their accountant's office or a formation agent's address.
The registered office is also where the company can keep its statutory registers and records available for inspection, unless it uses another notified inspection location.
What counts as an appropriate address?
Since 4 March 2024, section 86 of the Companies Act 2006 requires the registered office to be an "appropriate address". Two conditions apply:
- A document delivered there by hand or by post would be expected to come to the attention of a person acting on behalf of the company.
- Delivery there can be recorded by getting an acknowledgement of delivery, so a signature can be obtained.
Two practical rules follow:
- No PO Boxes. A Royal Mail PO Box can no longer be used as a registered office.
- Same country. A company registered in England and Wales needs an address in England or Wales, a Scottish company an address in Scotland, a Northern Ireland company an address in Northern Ireland.
The same reforms also require every company to give Companies House a registered email address. Unlike the office address, it is not published on the register.
What is the Companies House default address?
It is an address held by Companies House itself: PO Box 4385, Cardiff CF14 8LH. If the registrar is satisfied that a company's registered office is not appropriate, for example because the owner of a building reports that the company has no right to use it, Companies House can move the registered office to this default address.
From then on, the company has 28 days to deliver a notice changing its registered office to an appropriate address. If it does not, the registrar may start the process of striking it off the register. While it sits at the default address, the company's legal post is effectively going nowhere useful.
What does our data show about the default address?
It is one of the strongest single warning signs on the register. On 1 October 2026, 27,748 companies had their registered office at the default address, and 22,977 of them (83%) carried a proposal to strike off. Across all active companies plus those under a strike-off proposal, the rate was 7.6%.
The effect is big enough to distort regional statistics: the CF postcode area shows a strike-off rate of 33.8%, but without the default address the rate for CF postcodes is 8.2%, close to the national level. The full analysis is in our study of companies proposed for strike-off.
How to use the address when checking a company
- CF14 8LH: treat it as a serious warning. Check the company status and filing history for a First Gazette notice and do not extend credit until the company has a real address.
- A formation agent or accountant's address is normal. It just means the address tells you nothing about where the business operates.
- Frequent changes of registered office in a short period are worth a question, especially alongside overdue accounts or new directors.
- A residential address is common for one-person companies and is not a problem in itself.
Our Companies House red flags guide covers other warning signs. To see a company's registered office, status and accounts in one place, search the company.
Sources
- Companies Act 2006, section 86: a company's registered office
- GOV.UK: Check the rules for registered office addresses and email addresses
- GOV.UK: Registrar of Companies, rules and powers
- GOV.UK: Striking off or dissolving a limited company
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