Form EH05 UK: Elect Central Register of Members

What this document is

Form EH05 is the Companies House election form used by a private company to keep its register of members on the central public register at Companies House, rather than at its registered office or a single alternative inspection location (SAIL). Once the election takes effect, the company is relieved of the duty to maintain its own physical or electronic members' register for the period the election is in force.

Instead, the information sits on the Companies House register and updates flow through the usual filings such as the confirmation statement and any share transfers or allotments. The election is voluntary. It is only available to private companies, not public ones, and every member (or every subscriber, in the case of a newly incorporated company) must assent to it before it can be made.

The key trade-off is transparency: while the central register can be more convenient to administer, members' residential addresses and other personal information that you might previously have kept in-house become searchable by anyone with internet access.

How to use this document

1. Check that everyone agrees. Before you can file Form EH05, every member of the company must give their assent to the election. For a brand new company, this means every subscriber to the memorandum. There is no prescribed wording for the assent, but you should record it in writing and keep it with your company records in case the registrar or a member queries it later.
2. Gather the required information. You will need the company's registered number, its full registered name, and the details of every current member. For companies with share capital this includes name and address. For companies without share capital, you also need to record the date each person became a member. Make sure your existing register is fully up to date before you transfer the information across.
3. Complete Form EH05. Download the current version of Form EH05 from gov.uk and fill it in carefully. The form asks you to confirm that the necessary assent has been obtained from all members. An incorrect or incomplete form is likely to be rejected by Companies House, which delays the election taking effect, so double-check the details before submission.
4. Submit the form to Companies House. File the completed Form EH05 with Companies House by post, or use the relevant online filing route where available. There is no filing fee for the election itself at the time of writing, but always check gov.uk for the current position. The election takes effect from the date the registrar registers it.
5. Keep the central register up to date. Once the election is in force, you must notify Companies House of any change to the membership (new members, transfers, changes of address) as soon as reasonably practicable, using the appropriate filings. The Companies House register effectively replaces your internal register, so accurate and timely filing becomes more important than ever.

Common questions