Using a residential property as a Business address

[andyofborg 11]

you do realise that if anything goes wrong then disgruntled customers and suppliers will be knocking on your door dont you?

 

if things go badly wrong then there might be quite a lot of them....

 

claiming not to be the person concerned, even though you aren't, isn't going to improve their mood

[Cyclone 10]

It's entirely normal for residential addresses to be used as registered business addresses. Whether there could be "disgruntled customers" is dependant on the type of business.

[mlfc 10]

We have 3 addresses we use

 

1) Our registered address which is our accountant's. Automatically filters out lots of junk mail

2) Our shop on South Road

3) My home address which most necessary correspondence is sent to. I own the house but am limited by a covenant restricting it from being used for trading but in reality it means things like running a retail outlet from the garage, mending cars commercially etc. I don't think my address is published anywhere in connection with the business so no disgruntled customers (not that there are any, obviously) are likely to turn up.

 

My understanding of the OP's post is that the friend is simply working from home. I don't think it's relevant whether that's as an employee, sole trader, director or employee of your own limited company. I understand why the landlord wouldn't want the address listed publicly but can't seem him/her having an issue with a home worker and suggest you follow this with respect to using your address as well.

 

I'd suggest using the accountant for registration address and the home address for working and correspondence. If your friend moves home, just get the mail redirected for a year

[Chez2 10]

We have 3 addresses we use

 

1) Our registered address which is our accountant's. Automatically filters out lots of junk mail

2) Our shop on South Road

3) My home address which most necessary correspondence is sent to. I own the house but am limited by a covenant restricting it from being used for trading but in reality it means things like running a retail outlet from the garage, mending cars commercially etc. I don't think my address is published anywhere in connection with the business so no disgruntled customers (not that there are any, obviously) are likely to turn up.

 

My understanding of the OP's post is that the friend is simply working from home. I don't think it's relevant whether that's as an employee, sole trader, director or employee of your own limited company. I understand why the landlord wouldn't want the address listed publicly but can't seem him/her having an issue with a home worker and suggest you follow this with respect to using your address as well.

 

I'd suggest using the accountant for registration address and the home address for working and correspondence. If your friend moves home, just get the mail redirected for a year

 

The phrase "home worker" that you mention would suggest (to me) being an employee of another business, not their own business. It looks to me like to OP said their friends is going to be working for their own business.

[Cyclone 10]

I can't see why that makes any difference though.

[the_mandarin 15]

My understanding of the OP's post is that the friend is simply working from home. I don't think it's relevant whether that's as an employee, sole trader, director or employee of your own limited company. I understand why the landlord wouldn't want the address listed publicly but can't seem him/her having an issue with a home worker and suggest you follow this with respect to using your address as well.

 

I'd suggest using the accountant for registration address and the home address for working and correspondence. If your friend moves home, just get the mail redirected for a year

 

Thanks for the explanation, I will suggest the accountant route to my friend and see if that works for him.

[Chez2 10]

I can't see why that makes any difference though.

 

As an employee nothing would be registered to or sent to that address unless you are an employee of your own limited company. I worked for employers for years. My role was to visit customers (account manager / technical sales). I used to work from home, perhaps go into the office every few months. My phone line was installed and paid for by my employer, no mail to my address, email only. This would be different if it was my own business or in this scenario the OPs friends own business.

[Cyclone 10]

If he were just an employee working from home then he wouldn't have a "registered address", that's a company thing, so MLFC was probably using the wrong term or getting the wrong end of the stick.

 

(Everything you say is correct of course).

[andyofborg 11]

It's entirely normal for residential addresses to be used as registered business addresses. Whether there could be "disgruntled customers" is dependant on the type of business.

 

all businesses generate disgruntled customers, you cant avoid it. you just have to attempt to make as few as possible and regruntle any you make with the miminum of fuss.

[mlfc 10]

If he were just an employee working from home then he wouldn't have a "registered address", that's a company thing, so MLFC was probably using the wrong term or getting the wrong end of the stick.

 

(Everything you say is correct of course).

 

No, I understand that the OP is talking about the owner of the business. What I think, in case I didn't explain it fully, is that from a Landlord's point of view I don't think there's a deal of difference between an employee working at home and a business owner working from home provided the registered address is somewhere else. Yes, there will be extra post in the company name but I don't think that's any of the landlord's business.

[Cyclone 10]

all businesses generate disgruntled customers, you cant avoid it. you just have to attempt to make as few as possible and regruntle any you make with the miminum of fuss.

 

You must run your business very differently to mine.

 

But even if, say one of my previous clients, Toshiba, had been unhappy. I can be fairly sure that they wouldn't turn up at my registered business address to complain. (Just picked the client before my current one, nothing special about them really).

 

---------- Post added 25-07-2016 at 07:39 ----------

 

No, I understand that the OP is talking about the owner of the business. What I think, in case I didn't explain it fully, is that from a Landlord's point of view I don't think there's a deal of difference between an employee working at home and a business owner working from home provided the registered address is somewhere else. Yes, there will be extra post in the company name but I don't think that's any of the landlord's business.

 

Well, yes, if the registered address is elsewhere then it's identical. But that's not the situation the OP was asking about.

[Love2print 10]

I had customers coming to my home wanting to place orders. People will turn up in my experience anyway even if it is a residential address.

 

Sometimes customers are unhappy and there is nothing you can do to make them happy. This is from experience of being self-employed and working in Customer Services at a call centre. Even when you do exactly what the customer wants they still aren't happy.

 

To OP: I take it that this friend has access to the internet? Really they should be doing this research, why not suggest they create account on SF, it would easier than going back and forth?