The address of a property is increasingly becoming a very
important issue. More organisations, postal and
emergency services, and the general public need an efficient means
of location and referencing properties. The
Council is the Street Naming and Numbering Authority for the
area.
Can I name my house without contacting the Council?
If a property is already numbered, a property owner can
additionally name their property without contacting the Council as
long as it does not conflict with an existing property name in that
locality. The property name in this case will
not officially form part of the property address, and the property
number must still be displayed and referred to in any
correspondence; for example:
"My House" (not part of official address)
1 My Road (official address)
Town
County
Postcode
You only need to seek permission from the Council if there is
no number allocated in the official address (i.e. if the property
has been allocated a name as part of its official address).
How do I name my house?
In the case of addresses where there is no number allocated,
the allocated name does form part of the official
address. In this instance property owners
wishing to change the property name need to put their request in
writing, stating their name, the present full address of the
property and state clearly their new preferred name.
We will contact Royal Mail to see if they have knowledge of a
similar named property in the locality. We check
our information systems and if the name is satisfactory, then the
new address is registered and you will be informed
accordingly. If there is an issue with your
preferred name, we will request alternatives.
The property name change information is then sent to Royal
Mail, Emergency and Essential Services and other relevant Council
Services. It is the responsibility of property
owners to inform their own personal contacts etc.
Developing a single property/small development How do I number
properties?
If you are a developer of a new property (single or small
development), you should contact us as soon as you commence work on
site. A single or small development will usually
be named or numbered into the existing street.
Developing a large estate How do I name new streets and number
properties?
If you are a developer of a large estate, you should contact
us as soon as you commence work on site so that we can process the
naming of any new street and the numbering of your new properties
without delay. We will check your suggested
street names for duplication in the local area and forward them to
Local Councils and Royal Mail for consultation.
The name should not duplicate an existing name and should have an
historical connection to the site.
When we have an agreed name, we will then register the street
name/s and prepare a numbering schedule. The
information is then sent to public utilities, emergency services,
Land Registry, Ordnance Survey and relevant Council
Services. You will also be sent a copy of the
naming and numbering schedule from which we would ask you to inform
all your prospective purchasers of their new property
address.
What happens if a street needs renaming/renumbering?
On rare occasions it becomes necessary to rename or renumber a
street. This is usually only done as a last
resort when:
- There is confusion over a street's name and/or
numbering
- A group of residents are unhappy with their street
name
- New properties are built in a street and there is a need
for other properties to be renumbered to accommodate the new
properties
- The number of named-only properties in a street is deemed
to be causing confusion for visitors, the delivery or emergency
services.
Existing residents will be contacted and their views taken
into account. We will then consult the Royal
Mail for their position on the issue. To change
a street name we will ballot the local residents on the
issue. Hopefully there will be 100% support, but
we require at least a two-thirds majority to make the
change. This is a very time consuming process
and we are only able to progress one of these issues at any
time.
Allerdale Borough Council
