Before you move

  1. Update your registered office plan early. If you're a limited company, your registered office is public. Decide before you move whether the new address will be the registered office, or whether you'll keep using a service address.
  2. Check the lease and business rates. Get clear on rates relief eligibility at the new address — small businesses often qualify for substantial relief, but you have to apply.
  3. Plan your IT cutover. Bookkeeping, payroll, accounting software access — nothing should be lost in transit.
  4. Tell your accountant. A move can change VAT scheme appropriateness, payroll address, even your business rate situation. We can flag anything before it bites.

During the move

  1. Keep receipts for moving costs. Removal expenses, professional fees, dilapidations and re-fit costs can all be deductible — but only with receipts.
  2. Don't lose your records. If you keep paper records (you shouldn't, but still), box them carefully and don't let them spend a week in the back of a van.
  3. Update your business bank. Card-on-file mismatches and AVS failures can hit you within hours if your card billing address goes out of sync.

After you've moved

  1. Update Companies House. Change of registered office via form AD01 (or your accountant does it). Confirmation statement may also need updating.
  2. Update HMRC. Corporation Tax, Self Assessment, VAT and PAYE all have separate addresses on HMRC's system. Update each one.
  3. Update VAT registration. Notify HMRC within 30 days of a change of business address.
  4. Update PAYE. Tell HMRC and your pension provider so payslips and pension correspondence land in the right place.
  5. Update everyone else. Bank, insurance, customers (especially on invoices), domain registrar, payment processor, business directories — make a list and tick them off.
Two often-missed items

VAT and PAYE addresses are tracked separately by HMRC. People remember to update Corporation Tax but forget these two — and the correspondence ends up at the old address.

Should your home be your registered office?

It can be — but the address is public at Companies House, which many directors don't want. Using a registered office service (sometimes called a "service address") is common and inexpensive. IGI clients can use ours for a nominal fee.

What if I'm moving home, not the business?

If you're a sole trader or director working from home, moving house still triggers a chain of updates: your business address, Self Assessment correspondence address, payroll, registered office (if it was your old home), bank, software providers, customers and suppliers. The same list applies — just substitute "home" for "office" throughout.

Frequently asked questions

Yes — separately for each tax: Corporation Tax, Self Assessment, VAT and PAYE. Each has its own address record.

No — the registered office must be a physical UK address where documents can be delivered. A service address (registered office service) is a common alternative.

File the AD01 form within the standard window. Most updates are processed within 24 hours of online filing.