Introduction
If you're planning to sell cakes from home in the UK, registering as a food business with your local council is the first legally-mandatory thing on your list. Good news: it's free, takes about five minutes online, and is genuinely less alarming than it sounds.
This guide walks you through exactly what to do, what happens after you submit, what the inspector actually checks (with real-world detail, not the generic checklist), and how to get a 5-star hygiene rating on your first visit.
This covers England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland - the systems are similar but with small differences which we'll flag where they matter.
The 28-day rule, explained
You must register your home as a food business at least 28 days before you start trading. Not 28 days before you start baking; 28 days before your first paid sale.
This is set out in Article 6 of EU Regulation 852/2004, which still applies in UK law post-Brexit. There's no fee. There's no exam. There's no minimum turnover threshold - even if you only plan to sell a handful of cakes a month, you still need to register.
What happens if you don't register? In practice, two things. First, you're trading illegally and your local council can issue an Improvement Notice, prosecute you, or shut you down. Second, your insurer will almost certainly refuse a claim if you ever need one, because you weren't trading lawfully when the incident happened.
Both are easy to avoid. Just register.
Does the 28 days have to be exactly 28 days? No - it's a minimum. You can register six months before you start trading if you want. The 28 days exists so the council has time to add you to their inspection schedule and arrange a pre-opening visit if they want one (they almost never do for home bakers).
Where and how to register
There is one official route: the gov.uk register a food business service. It detects your local council from your postcode and either submits your registration directly or redirects you to your council's specific online form (this varies slightly by council).
Don't use third-party services that charge for this. A handful of websites have appeared offering to 'register your food business for £29' or similar. They're just filling in the free gov.uk form on your behalf. Skip them.
What you need ready before you start
The form takes about five minutes if you have these details to hand:
Your full home address (the address you'll be baking from). The type of food you'll be selling - 'cakes', 'baked goods', 'celebration cakes' are all fine descriptions. When you plan to start trading. A rough description of your kitchen setup (it's a domestic kitchen, you don't need a fancy answer). Your contact details. Your National Insurance number (some councils ask, some don't).
That's it. You don't need a business name, a website, an HMRC registration, an accountant, or anything else.
After you submit
You'll get an automatic confirmation email immediately. Within a few weeks, your council will write to you (usually email, sometimes post) to either:
- Confirm your registration with no further action needed (most common for home bakers).
- Send a short follow-up questionnaire asking for more detail about your kitchen setup and food handling practices.
- Schedule an inspection visit.
About half of new home bakers get inspected in their first 12 months. The other half don't get inspected for years. There's no consistent pattern - some councils inspect everyone, some only inspect on a complaint or random sampling basis.
What the inspector actually checks
This is where most online articles get vague and unhelpful. Here's what genuinely happens during a home baker EHO visit, based on real reports from working UK home bakers.
The visit usually takes 30-60 minutes. The inspector will be friendly. They are not there to fail you - their job is to help you operate safely. Most home bakers leave the visit relieved by how reasonable it was.
What they'll look at
Your kitchen. General cleanliness, organisation, surfaces, equipment condition. They're not expecting a commercial kitchen - they know you're working from home. They are expecting you to have thought about hygiene and to demonstrate you're taking it seriously.
Your fridge and storage. Temperature (should be 5°C or below for fridges; -18°C or below for freezers). Storage of raw ingredients vs. finished product. Whether you have allergen-containing ingredients separated from non-allergen ingredients.
Your hand-washing setup. Not necessarily a separate sink, but you must be able to wash your hands without contaminating food prep areas. A bottle of antibacterial hand wash by the sink is fine. A separate hand-towel is fine. The point is that the inspector wants to see you've thought about it.
Your records. This is the part most home bakers underestimate. You should be able to show:
- Daily fridge and freezer temperature logs (a simple notebook or spreadsheet)
- Your suppliers and what you buy from each (Tesco, Costco, Sainsbury's all count - it doesn't have to be wholesale suppliers)
- Allergen records for each product or recipe
- Cleaning schedules for your prep areas
None of this needs to be sophisticated. A printed A4 sheet with handwritten entries is fine. The inspector is checking you have a system, not auditing a multinational.
Your understanding of allergens and cross-contamination. They'll ask questions like 'how do you handle a customer with a nut allergy when you also bake cakes containing nuts?' The right answer is some version of 'I don't make nut-free orders on the same day as nut-containing orders, I clean down thoroughly between batches, and I declare cross-contamination risk in writing to the customer.'
Pets in the prep area. Pets shouldn't be in your kitchen during food preparation. If you have a cat that wanders, demonstrate that you exclude it during baking and clean thoroughly afterwards.
What they're unlikely to check
The inspector almost certainly won't:
- Ask to see your Self Assessment status or HMRC registration (that's HMRC's business, not theirs)
- Test your food (this isn't trading standards)
- Want to see invoices or business accounts
- Look at your website or marketing
- Care about how you price your cakes
Their remit is food safety. Stay focused on that.
Your hygiene rating - what it means and how to get a 5
After your inspection, you'll be given a Food Hygiene Rating from 0 to 5. This becomes public on the FSA website (England, Wales, Northern Ireland; Scotland uses its own 'Food Hygiene Information Scheme').
The scale:
- 5: Very good - what you want. Comprehensive, well-evidenced food hygiene practice.
- 4: Good - solid, with minor improvements possible.
- 3: Generally satisfactory - meets the minimum legal requirements but the inspector noted areas for improvement.
- 2: Improvement necessary - significant issues found that need fixing.
- 1: Major improvement necessary - serious issues. You'll likely get a re-inspection within weeks.
- 0: Urgent improvement necessary - you may be issued with formal enforcement action.
How to get a 5 on your first inspection
Three things, all simple:
1. Have your records ready before they arrive. Temperature logs, supplier records, allergen records, cleaning schedule. Keep them in a folder near your prep area. If the inspector asks 'can I see your records?' and you can hand over a tidy folder, you've done 60% of the work for a 5.
2. Demonstrate you understand allergens specifically. Be able to explain, without panic, what you'd do if a customer asked for a peanut-free cake. The answer should involve cleaning down, separate utensils where possible, and clear written communication with the customer.
3. Be calm and informed. Inspectors are human. They respond well to home bakers who are taking it seriously, can answer questions clearly, and are genuinely interested in doing things properly. They respond badly to defensive answers or panic.
Most home bakers who prepare get a 5 first time. The ones who get 3s or 4s usually got marked down for paperwork - missing temperature logs, vague allergen records - rather than anything dramatic about the kitchen itself.
What to do if you fail or get a low rating
First: don't panic. A low rating doesn't shut you down. It triggers a re-inspection and gives you specific things to fix.
The inspector will leave you with a written report listing what needs improving and how long you have to fix it (usually 1-3 months for non-urgent issues). Fix the issues, and request a re-inspection. Re-inspections in England cost £170-200; Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own arrangements - check with your council.
You can also ask for a 'right to reply' which gets published alongside your rating, explaining the context. Useful if the inspection happened during an unusual situation (kitchen renovation, illness, etc).
You don't have to display your rating in England (it's mandatory in Wales and Northern Ireland; voluntary in Scotland and England). But your rating is publicly searchable on the FSA website regardless, and customers will check before booking weddings or big orders. Aim for a 5.
Once registered: the ongoing obligations
Registration is a one-time thing - you don't renew it annually. But you do have ongoing obligations:
Tell the council if anything significant changes. New address, new business name, significant change in what you produce. A simple email to your council's environmental health team is fine.
Maintain your records. Temperature logs, supplier records, allergen records - keep them updated, keep them for at least 12 months, and have them ready if an inspector visits unannounced (which is rare but possible).
Keep up with food safety guidance. The FSA occasionally updates rules. Sign up for FSA email alerts at food.gov.uk so you hear about changes that affect home bakers. Natasha's Law in 2021 was one such change; expect another one within the next few years.
Renew your food hygiene certificate every 2-3 years. This isn't a council requirement; it's a market requirement (venues and customers expect to see a recent certificate).
Common worries answered
'Will the inspector make me change my kitchen?'
Almost never. Inspectors are realistic about home kitchens. The only things that genuinely fail home inspections are: severely poor hygiene, evidence of pests, refusal to maintain records, or the kitchen being in active disrepair. Standard domestic kitchens with thoughtful hygiene practices pass.
'Can I be inspected on a weekday when I'm at work?'
Most councils offer evening or weekend inspections by arrangement. Just ask when they contact you. Some inspectors specifically prefer evening visits because you're more likely to have your kitchen in 'normal use' state.
'Do I need a separate sink for hand washing?'
In most council areas: no. You need to demonstrate that you can wash hands without contaminating food prep. A bottle of antibacterial hand wash and clear protocols are usually fine. A few councils are stricter - check your local guidance.
'What if I have pets?'
Pets are not banned. They just can't be in your prep area during food preparation. Demonstrate that you exclude them during baking (close the kitchen door), clean thoroughly afterwards, and store ingredients somewhere they can't reach.
'What if I rent and my landlord doesn't know I'm starting a business?'
Legally, you should check your tenancy agreement - many have clauses about commercial activity. Practically, the council won't tell your landlord. But you should still inform them, both because it's a contractual obligation and because if anything ever goes wrong (a fire, an insurance claim, a complaint), 'unauthorised commercial use of premises' would be a serious problem for you.
'Can I register my parents' or partner's address if I bake there?'
You register the address where the food is actually prepared. If that's a relative's house and you have their permission, that address goes on the registration. Just make sure they're aware that an EHO might visit.
'I've already started selling. Can I register retroactively?'
Yes, register now. The legal position is that you should have registered before trading, but the council's primary interest is getting you registered and trading safely - they're very rarely punitive about late registrations as long as you come forward voluntarily and there have been no complaints. Don't let the awkwardness of being late stop you registering today.
The 5-minute action plan
If you're starting a home cake business and haven't registered yet, here's exactly what to do in the next 10 minutes:
- Go to gov.uk/food-business-registration
- Enter your postcode and follow the prompts
- Submit the form (free, no payment required)
- Save the confirmation email
- Add 'register food business' to your records folder, with the date submitted
Then tomorrow:
- Start a temperature log for your fridge and freezer (a simple table with date and temperature works)
- Start an allergen record sheet (one row per recipe, columns for the 14 UK allergens, ticks where present)
- Order your Level 2 Food Safety certificate course
You are now legally compliant and ready to bake.
What's next
With council registration done, the next priorities are food hygiene certification, allergen training, and public liability insurance - all covered in the main start-a-cake-business guide.
When you're ready to take orders properly, BakeBase is built specifically for UK home bakers - websites, order forms with full 14-allergen handling, deposit-aware checkout, and a free Natasha's Law label generator built in. Join the waitlist here.
For deeper dives on the related topics:
- Do I need a food hygiene certificate to sell cakes from home?
- HMRC and home baking: the £1,000 trading allowance explained
- Public liability insurance for UK home bakers
- Natasha's Law for home bakers - what you actually need to do
- Free UK cake pricing calculator
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does it take to register a food business with the council?
The online form takes about 5 minutes to complete. After submission, you'll get an automatic confirmation email immediately. Your council will follow up within a few weeks - either confirming your registration or asking for more details. You can legally start trading 28 days after registering.
Does it cost anything to register a home food business in the UK?
No. Registering as a food business with your local council is completely free. Don't use third-party websites that charge for this - they're just filling in the free gov.uk form on your behalf. Use the official gov.uk register a food business service.
What happens during a council food business inspection?
The inspector visits your home (usually by arrangement, occasionally unannounced) for 30-60 minutes. They check your kitchen cleanliness, fridge and freezer temperatures, hand-washing setup, food safety records (temperature logs, supplier records, allergen records), and your understanding of allergens and cross-contamination. They are not there to fail you - their job is to help you operate safely.
Do I need a separate kitchen to sell cakes from home?
No. Your standard domestic kitchen is fine for a UK home baking business. You don't need a separate room, a commercial-grade oven, a separate sink in most council areas, or any specialist equipment. You do need to demonstrate good hygiene practices, allergen awareness, and proper record-keeping.
What is the food hygiene rating scheme?
After your council inspection, you receive a Food Hygiene Rating from 0 to 5. A '5' means very good, '0' means urgent improvement necessary. The rating becomes publicly searchable on the FSA website. In Wales and Northern Ireland, displaying your rating is mandatory. In England and Scotland, it's voluntary - but customers can check it regardless.
Can I run a cake business from home if I'm renting?
Yes, but check your tenancy agreement first. Most agreements have a clause about commercial activity from the property. A short email to your landlord explaining the scope (small home baking business, kitchen-based, no foot traffic) is usually enough to get permission. Some landlords refuse, in which case you have a problem that's hard to work around.
How often do I need to renew my food business registration?
You don't. Council registration is a one-time process - it doesn't expire and you don't need to renew it. You do need to inform the council if anything significant changes (new address, new business name, significant change in what you produce). Your food hygiene certificate, separately, should be renewed every 2-3 years.