Registered office

What is a SAIL address, and can it be your home?

A SAIL address is the single alternative inspection location a company can register to keep certain records away from its registered office. If that address is your home, it sits on the public register and has to be changed before an SR01 application.

Updated 24 Oct 2026 · 5 min read · By Rayhaan Moughal, Sidekick Accounting

A single alternative inspection location, or SAIL, is a second address a company can notify to Companies House as the place where some of its statutory records are kept. Most small companies never use one.

Some people find a SAIL address on their company anyway, and it's their home. That matters, because the SR01 guidance now says a home address that is also the SAIL has to be changed before you can apply to remove it.

What is a SAIL address at Companies House?

Normally a company keeps its statutory records at its registered office, available for inspection. A SAIL lets it keep some of them somewhere else instead. The rules say there can only be one such place, and it has to be in the same part of the UK as the company is registered (The Companies (Company Records) Regulations 2008, regulation 3).

The company tells Companies House about it, so the address becomes public. That's the part that catches people out.

The records involved are the ones on the AD03 form, which include:

Register of members
Directors' service contracts and indemnities
Records of resolutions
Register of debenture holders
Copies of instruments creating and amending charges

The form's list is the safest reference, and it's worth reading the current version before relying on any summary, ours included.

Registered office vs SAIL address

People mix the two up, so here's the difference side by side.

Registered office

Every company must have one
Official address for legal post and notices
Must be an appropriate address, and PO boxes don't qualify
Changed with form AD01

SAIL address

Optional, one per company
Only holds some statutory records for inspection
Same part of the UK as the registered office
Notified with AD02, records moved with AD03 or AD04

If you want the registered office side in more depth, see our guide on a home address used as a registered office and the one on a registered office address service.

The AD forms for a SAIL: AD02, AD03 and AD04

Three forms cover the whole life of a SAIL. GOV.UK describes them like this.

Form	What it does
AD02	Notifies Companies House of the SAIL address
AD03	Says which records are now kept at the SAIL
AD04	Says records have gone back to the registered office

AD02 comes first. The AD03 form itself is explicit that it can't tell Companies House records are returning to the registered office, and sends you to AD04 for that.

GOV.UK recommends filing AD02 online, as the paper version takes longer to process. Check the current Companies House pages before filing, because the online service and form versions are updated from time to time.

Why does a small company end up with a home SAIL address?

Usually nobody chose it. The most common routes are:

A formations agent or online incorporation service set a SAIL as a default
A director kept the registers at home and notified it to be tidy
An accountant or former agent filed AD02 years ago and the address was never revisited

Registers that nobody actually inspects can still end up with a public address attached to them. If you're also a sole director, that can be the same home address you're trying to keep off the register elsewhere. Our guide on whether to use your home address for your limited company covers the thinking behind that choice.

Is your home the SAIL? A quick check

Is your home the SAIL?

Does the company's register entry show a SAIL address?

Yes: Go to the next question.

No: No SAIL to worry about. Carry on with the SR01 as normal.

Is that address your home?

Yes: Change it before you apply. The SR01 guidance now requires this.

No: Nothing to change for this address.

Do you want to stop using a SAIL altogether?

Yes: Move the records back to the registered office with AD04.

No: File AD02 with a new, non-home SAIL address.

A free scan of the register also finds the filings where your home address appears.

The 28 April 2026 rule for SR01 applications

The GOV.UK guidance on completing SR01 was updated on 28 April 2026. It says that if the address you want removed is also the company's SAIL, you need to change the SAIL address before you complete the form.

The same applies to a live company's registered office, which has to be changed with AD01 before an SR01. Our guide on how to complete SR01 walks through the form once the addresses are sorted.

How to change a home SAIL address

01Choose where the records will liveEither the registered office, or a new SAIL address that isn't your home.
02Notify the new SAIL with AD02File it online if you can. Check the current guidance on how the change is recorded.
03Move the records and file AD03Tell Companies House which records are now at the new location.
04Or bring them back with AD04If you'd rather stop using a SAIL, file AD04 so the records are recorded as back at the registered office.
05Then apply for removalWith the SAIL and registered office sorted, the SR01 can go in. See our guide to the [SR01 form](/guides/sr01-form-explained).

We can set up a registered office and service address for you as part of your application, which takes your home out of both roles. The details are on our page about how to remove your home address from Companies House.

Frequently asked questions

Questions

What does SAIL stand for at Companies House?

SAIL stands for single alternative inspection location. It's an address, other than the registered office, where a company keeps certain statutory records so people can inspect them. A company can have only one, and Companies House holds it on the public register once it's notified.

Which form do I use to notify a SAIL address?

Form AD02 tells Companies House of the SAIL address. You can file it online, which GOV.UK recommends as the quicker route, or post the paper form. Moving specific records there is a separate step on form AD03.

How do I change my SAIL address?

Check the current GOV.UK guidance first, because Companies House has an online service for SAIL addresses and the paper forms have changed over the years. In most cases you notify the new location with AD02, then use AD03 to say which records are now kept there. If the records are going back to the registered office, that's form AD04.

Can my home be my company's SAIL address?

Yes, a home address can be a SAIL, and plenty of small companies end up that way, often through a formations agent's default. It then shows on the public register until you change it. Since the 28 April 2026 update to the SR01 guidance, a home address that is also the SAIL has to be changed before you apply.

Does my company need a SAIL address at all?

No. Most small companies keep their records at the registered office and never use a SAIL. It's an option, not a requirement, so if you have one you didn't choose, you can usually move the records back and stop using it.