# How to start a home bakery in the UK: council registration, hygiene rating, HMRC and your first month

> Start a home bakery in the UK: register free with your council 28 days before trading, prepare for the hygiene rating, label allergens and register with HMRC past £1,000.

To start a home bakery in the UK, register your food business with your local
council, free, at least 28 days before you start trading. The council will
inspect your kitchen and give you a food hygiene rating from 0 to 5, which is
published. Before that visit you need a written HACCP-based food safety
system (most home bakers use the free Safer Food Better Business pack),
allergen information for all 14 regulated allergens, and full ingredient
labels on anything you wrap before it is ordered. A Level 2 food hygiene
certificate is recommended, not legally required. Once your trading income
goes over £1,000 in a tax year, register with HMRC for Self Assessment by
5 October after that tax year ends. VAT only starts at £90,000.

What registration is called in each UK nation is in
[home baking laws by state and country](/blog/home-baking-laws-by-state-and-country),
and the questions to ask your council are in
[do I need a license to sell cakes from home](/blog/do-i-need-a-license-to-sell-cakes-from-home).
Councils apply the rules differently, so check with your local authority's
environmental health team before you rely on any step here.

## Step 1: write your menu and decide how you will sell

Write down every product you plan to sell, with fillings and finishes, and
how each one reaches the customer:

- **Made to order** (a birthday cake baked for a named customer): needs
  allergen information available, not a full label.
- **Prepacked for direct sale (PPDS)** (cookies bagged in the morning for a
  market stall, loaves wrapped before they are ordered): needs a full label.
- **Sold online or by phone and posted or delivered:** allergen information
  must be available before the customer buys and when the food arrives.

Fresh cream, custard and cheesecake are not banned in UK home kitchens the way
they are under many US and Australian rules, but they bring tighter
temperature control and the inspector will ask how you manage it.

## Step 2: get permission at home

The Food Standards Agency's guidance says home food businesses follow the same
rules as commercial premises, and that you need permission from your mortgage
provider or landlord. Check your tenancy, your mortgage terms and, if you own a
leasehold flat, the lease. Some councils also want planning permission if
customers will collect from your door regularly; ask when you register.

## Step 3: register with your council (free, 28 days before trading)

Register online through the food business registration service at least
28 days before you trade. Registration is free and cannot be refused. If you
are already selling, register as soon as possible: registration is a legal requirement.
In Scotland the same 28-day rule applies through your local authority's
environmental health service.

Registration is not approval. It tells the council you exist, and it puts you
on the inspection list. Higher-risk businesses are seen first, so a home
baker making shelf-stable cakes may wait several months for a first visit.
You can trade while you wait.

## Step 4: set up your food safety system

The law requires a food safety management system based on HACCP principles.
For a home bakery that does not mean a consultant. The FSA's Safer Food Better
Business (SFBB) pack is free, written for small caterers and retailers, and
covers cross-contamination, cleaning, chilling, cooking and management, plus a
daily diary. Fill in the sections that match what you do, and keep
the diary going from your first bake, because the inspector will ask to see it.

## Step 5: prepare for the inspection and your hygiene rating

The rating covers three things: how hygienically you handle food, the
condition of the kitchen, and how you manage food safety (your SFBB pack and
records). The FSA says every business should be able to reach a 5. In a home
kitchen, inspectors commonly look for:

- hand washing facilities with hot water, soap and paper towels, available
  during food prep
- ingredients for the business stored apart from family food
- pets kept out of the kitchen while you work
- a fridge thermometer and a written record of readings
- cleaning products suitable for food areas, used in the right order
- allergen information for every product

Your rating is published online and customers do look it up. A 5 is worth
the preparation.

## Step 6: food hygiene training

It is not compulsory to hold a food hygiene certificate. The FSA recommends a
qualification, and it is the fastest way to show an inspector you understand
the rules. Level 2 Food Hygiene and Safety for Catering or Retail is the
course most home bakers take; it is offered online by many providers
accredited through bodies such as the Chartered Institute of Environmental
Health. Keep the certificate with your SFBB pack.

## Step 7: allergens and Natasha's Law

The 14 allergens you must declare are celery, cereals containing gluten,
crustaceans, eggs, fish, lupin, milk, molluscs, mustard, peanuts, sesame,
soybeans, sulphur dioxide and sulphites (over 10 parts per million) and tree
nuts. Flour, butter, eggs and milk mean almost every bake you sell carries at
least three.

Since 1 October 2021, PPDS food in England, Wales and Northern Ireland needs a
label with:

1. the name of the food
2. a full ingredients list in descending order of weight
3. the 14 allergens emphasised in that list, in bold, capitals, a contrasting
   colour or underlined

Scotland sets its own labelling guidance through Food Standards Scotland. Compound ingredients count: if your
chocolate chips contain milk and soya, both appear. The most common home
baker mistake is labelling "chocolate" without breaking it down.

## Step 8: tell HMRC

You can start trading as a sole trader without registering first. Under the
trading allowance, the first £1,000 of gross trading income each tax year is
tax-free. Once your gross trading income goes over £1,000, you must register
for Self Assessment, by 5 October after the end of the tax year you started
in (the tax year runs 6 April to 5 April). HMRC then sends your Unique
Taxpayer Reference (UTR), which you need to file your return.

When you file, choose either the £1,000 allowance or your actual expenses,
not both. A home baker who buys ingredients, boxes and equipment usually
claims expenses, so keep every receipt from the first bag of flour.

You can trade under your own name or a trading name. Sole traders do not
register a trading name anywhere, but there are rules on what it can include
and it cannot copy an existing trade mark.

## Step 9: VAT

You must register for VAT if your taxable turnover goes over £90,000 in the
last 12 months, or you expect it to in the next 30 days. Most cakes are
zero-rated anyway, but not all of them, and catering at events is
standard-rated. The full rules are in
[do I charge VAT on cakes in the UK](/answers/do-i-charge-vat-on-cakes-in-the-uk).

## Step 10: insurance

Employers' liability is the only cover below that the law requires, and only
once you employ someone. In practice:

- **Public and product liability:** markets, venues and wedding planners
  almost always ask for a certificate. Product liability covers a customer who
  falls ill from what you sold.
- **Home insurance:** tell your insurer. Business activity at home can void
  or limit a standard policy.
- **Employers' liability:** compulsory as soon as you employ someone (with
  limited exceptions for close family), with cover of at least £5 million.
  The fine for not having it is up to £2,500 for every day you are uninsured.

Premiums depend on turnover and products, so get two or three quotes.

## Step 11: price your first products

Price from your costs: ingredients at what you paid, packaging, your hours at
a wage you would accept, then margin. UK worked examples:
[how much to charge for a cake in the UK](/blog/pricing-celebration-cakes-uk),
[cake pricing calculator](/blog/cake-pricing-calculator),
[how to price cookies for a cookie business](/blog/how-to-price-cookies-for-a-cookie-business)
and [how to price sourdough bread](/blog/how-to-price-sourdough-bread).
Below the VAT threshold your prices carry no VAT; if you expect to cross
£90,000, work out now what that does to your standard-rated lines.

## Step 12: take orders and deposits

Set your order terms before you post your first price: lead time, deposit,
balance date, cancellation and collection or delivery. For custom cakes a
50 percent deposit with the balance 7 to 14 days before the date is the common
structure, and what you keep on cancellation should match your real loss
under UK consumer law. See
[how much deposit for a custom cake](/blog/how-much-deposit-for-a-custom-cake)
and the [cake order terms template](/blog/terms-to-get-signed-for-custom-cake-orders).

## Your first-month checklist

| When | Do |
|---|---|
| Day 1 | Mortgage, landlord or lease checked; menu and selling channels written down |
| Day 1 to 3 | Council registration submitted (the 28 days start now); SFBB pack downloaded |
| Week 1 | Level 2 food hygiene course; fridge thermometer; separate storage set up |
| Week 2 | Allergen matrix for every product; PPDS labels designed and checked |
| Week 3 | Liability insurance; order terms and deposit rule written; prices costed |
| Day 29 onwards | Trade; SFBB diary every day; receipts kept |
| By 5 October after year one | Self Assessment registration if trading income passed £1,000 |

## Where ibakepro fits

ibakepro is bakery management software for UK bakers, from a first home
kitchen to bakeries with staff, wholesale accounts and more than one site. The
14 allergens roll up from each ingredient to every product, so the allergen
matrix an environmental health officer asks for updates itself when a supplier
changes a recipe, and Growth and Business keep the temperature, cleaning and
corrective action records that sit alongside Safer Food Better Business.
Deposits and balances are taken in pounds, UK accounts keep their data in
London, and VAT can be switched on if you ever reach the threshold. Essentials
is £13 a month, Growth £17 and Business £47, with a 14-day free trial. See
[allergen management](/features/allergen-management),
[Compliance](/features/food-safety-and-compliance) and
[payment schedules and deposits](/features/payment-schedules-and-deposits).