Addresses
Director service address vs residential address: what's public and what isn't
A director service address is the public address Companies House shows for you and where documents can be served. Your usual residential address is given separately and kept off the public register.
Updated 24 Oct 2026 · 6 min read · By Rayhaan Moughal, Sidekick Accounting
Every director gives Companies House two addresses. The director service address is public. The usual residential address is protected, and Companies House shouldn't show it on the register.
That's the rule today, and it's why most newer filings are clean. Older filings are a different story, and that's what catches people out.
Service address vs residential address
Here's the split in one view.
Service address (public)
- Shown on the public register
- Where documents can be served on you
- Can be any address that meets the rules
- Often the company's registered office
- Must be somewhere post reaches you
Usual residential address (protected)
- Given to Companies House but kept off the public register
- Shared with specified public authorities
- Credit reference agencies in limited cases
- Can be withheld from them on application
- Your home, usually
The service address does a practical job. If someone needs to serve a legal document on you, they can leave it at, or post it to, the address shown for you on the register. The Companies Act 2006 treats that as good service.
The service address doesn't have to be your home. A correspondence address on Companies House is just the address you're happy to have in public, and plenty of directors use their accountant's address or the company's registered office.
What counts as your usual residential address at Companies House?
Your usual residential address is where you actually live. When you're appointed you give it to Companies House alongside your service address, and you tell them when it changes.
The law treats it as protected information. Companies House must not put it on the public register or disclose it, except in the cases the Companies Act allows. Those cases are disclosure to specified public authorities, to credit reference agencies, and under a court order.
Section 243 adds one more route. You can apply to have your usual residential address withheld from credit reference agencies. That application protects the address from that group. It doesn't remove anything already on the public register, which is a separate job.
Why old documents still show a home address
The split between the two addresses comes from the Companies Act 2006, and it applied from 1 October 2009. Before that date, directors filed a single residential address, and it went on the public record.
How director addresses changed on the register
- Before 1 Oct 2009Home address was publicForms such as the 288a and 288c asked for a residential address, and it appeared on the public record.
- 1 Oct 2009The split beginsDirectors give a public service address and a protected usual residential address.
- 4 Mar 2024ECCTA tightens address rulesA company's registered office must be an appropriate address, one where documents sent to the company reach someone acting for it.
- TodayNew filings are protected, old ones aren't changedCompanies House doesn't go back and clean documents that were filed in public years ago.
Companies House didn't rewrite the old filings when the rules changed. Section 242 of the Companies Act says the registrar doesn't have to remove protected information registered before the new rules came in. So an appointment filed in 2007 can still carry a home address today.
Here's what that looks like in practice.
| Filing | Home address public? |
|---|---|
| Appointment or change filed before 1 Oct 2009 | Often yes |
| Appointment filed under current rules, service address given | No, only the service address shows |
| Current filing where you chose your home as the service address | Yes |
| Home address used as a registered office, any date | Yes |
If you want to know which of your filings are in which bucket, our guide on how to check whether your address is on Companies House covers it document by document, or you can run the free scan and we'll read every filing since 2003 for you.
Using your home as a service address
The risk with your home as a service address is simple. If you tell Companies House your home is your service address, it goes on the public register from that filing onward.
The same applies to the registered office. If your home is the company's registered office, it's public too, and the usual residential address protection doesn't cover it. We cover that fix in our guide to home addresses used as a registered office.
Is your home address your service address?
Does your current Companies House record show your home as your service address?
Yes: It's public on the register going forward. Change it to a business or other address.
No: Your current record is probably fine. Check older filings.
Did you file anything before 1 October 2009?
Yes: Those documents may still show a home address. Check them.
No: Older paper filings are less likely to be an issue.
Did the company ever use your home as its registered office?
Yes: That address sits in the filing that set it. The SR01 route can cover it.
No: You're probably covered.
How to change a director's service address
Changing your service address is a short job.
- Pick the new address. It needs to be somewhere documents can reach you, and it can be the registered office.
- File form CH01 (change of director's details) with Companies House. Most people do this online using the company's authentication code, though paper filing is also available.
- Check the register afterwards. The new address should show as your current service address.
Section 1140 of the Companies Act gives a short overlap. After you notify a change, the old address can still be used to serve documents for 14 days from registration.
Do PSCs have the same split?
Broadly, yes. A person with significant control gives a correspondence address that shows publicly and a usual residential address that stays protected. The PSC register is much newer than the 2009 change, so the old-filing problem is less common there, though a PSC who is also a director can still have older director filings with a home address.
New identity and address rules under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act have also changed how some of this works in practice. Our explainer on the Companies House privacy changes walks through what moved and when.
Questions
Can a director's service address be the registered office?
Yes, in most cases. A service address is the address Companies House shows publicly and where documents can be served on you, so many directors use the company's registered office. Whatever you pick has to be a real address that can receive post for you.
Does Companies House show my home address?
Not for filings made under the current rules, unless you chose your home as your service address. Your usual residential address is given to Companies House but kept off the public register. Older filings can still show it, which is why a check of the register is worth doing.
Who can see my usual residential address?
Companies House can share it with specified public authorities and, in limited cases, credit reference agencies. Under section 243 of the Companies Act 2006 you can apply to have it withheld from credit reference agencies. It isn't on the public register.
If I change my service address, does the old one disappear?
No. The new address applies going forward, but documents already filed stay on the register as they were. To take a home address out of old documents you need an SR01 application, at £34 per document.
Do people with significant control have a service address too?
Yes. A PSC gives a correspondence address that appears on the public register and a usual residential address that is protected, in a similar way to a director. You can update the public address with Companies House whenever it changes.
What's the form to change a director's service address?
Companies House uses form CH01 for changes to a director's details, and you can file the change online with your authentication code. Check the current Companies House guidance when you file, as the process has been updated under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act.
Sources
- Companies Act 2006, section 242 (protected information: restriction on disclosure by registrar)
- Companies Act 2006, section 243 (protected information: permitted disclosure by registrar)
- Companies Act 2006, section 1088 (power to make regulations protecting material)
- Companies Act 2006, section 1140 (service of documents on directors, secretaries and others)
- GOV.UK: Apply to remove your home address from the public register (SR01)