If your house has a number in the address, you can add a property name without contacting the Council although you would be wise to do so.

The name chosen must not be the same or similar to any other property name in the area as this may cause confusion for the postal or emergency services. The name will not form part of the registered address and you are still required to use the house number in your address and to display the number on the property in a position where it can be clearly seen from the road.

The changing of house or property names is not recommended, however in certain circumstances owners may wish to pursue this course. If your house has a number as part of its address it is likely, but not certain, that the name is not part of the official registered address. Names are usually only registered to identify a property if the property has no number.

In the case of an address where there is no number allocated, the name will form part of the official registered address. If therefore you wish to change the name of the property you must put your request to the Council in writing, giving the present full address and stating clearly the requested new name.

We will check our records and contact the Royal Mail to see if they have a record of any similar names in the same postal district that may lead to confusion. If these checks do not reveal any problems the new name will be registered and you will be advised of the date when you should begin to use it. If there is a clash of names you will be asked to suggest another.

We will inform the Royal Mail, Council Departments, essential service providers and the emergency services of the change of address but it will be up to you to advise your friends, banks, etc to use the new name.

A street name is only changed or all of the properties in a street renumbered as a last resort when:

The name or the numbering is causing confusion for the emergency services or the Royal Mail.
The property addresses have names only and no numbers.
The sub-division or construction of properties in a street leads to a confused numbering scheme.
It is appreciated that changing a street name or renumbering all properties causes a great deal of inconvenience for residents and some temporary confusion for visitors and those making delivering to that street. The council is therefore reluctant to make changes without good reason.

The council will consider requests from residents for a change but only if the request has the support of the greater majority of the residents and is for a good reason.

Before making any changes we would consult all of the residents in order to seek their views. It is unlikely that the council would proceed unless at least two-thirds of the residents supported the change. The renaming of a street does involve a legal process that gives any resident who may object the right to appeal to a Magistrate Court.

The council may require residents requesting a change of street name to pay the Council's costs for the process.

If you are developing a larger estate involving the construction of a new street you should contact us to arrange the numbering of the properties and to agree the naming of the roads as soon as you are ready to commence on site. You should provide 2 copies a layout plan of the development, one at a scale of 1:200 or 1:500 and one at 1:1250, and several suggestions for street names.

The suggested street names will be checked through our own records and the Royal Mail to ensure that the names chosen do not clash with any others in the same postal district. Once suitable names have been agreed we will prepare a property numbering scheme based around the selected names. You will be notified of the addresses allocated. If you should have any comments or concerns about the addresses you must make us aware as soon as possible.

Often developments are carried out in phases. In such cases the whole of the development should still be considered for numbering at the outset. This makes it easier for us to foresee any problems and to accommodate any changes that may be required at a later date.

Once the addresses have been agreed, we will inform the public utilities, emergency service, Land Registry, Ordnance Survey and the relevant council services. You will be required to inform the prospective purchaser of the property.

Where appropriate you will be required to provide and erect street nameplates to the Council's standards before the new properties are occupied. The council can undertake this on your behalf. The cost for this will be provided on request. For all enquiries regarding street name plates please contact the engineers department.

If you are a developer building a new property, a small development or redeveloping an existing property into multiple units or flats you should contact us before, or as soon as possible after, you commence work on site to arrange for the allocation of addresses. The address is usually required by the service providers, gas, water etc. before they will connect their service to the property.

You should submit a plan of the development showing each individual unit or property and the access to each.

If the property or site is on a road where the properties are already numbered the development will be allocated numbers within the existing numbering scheme of the road. This may necessitate using suffixes such as 12a, 12b, 12c... but we will endeavour to avoid this if at all possible.

You will be advised of the decision and the allocated addresses. These addresses will be passed to the public utility service providers, emergency services, Land Registry, Ordnance Survey and the council's service departments.

Where appropriate you will be required to provide and erect street nameplates to the council's standards before the new properties are occupied. The council can undertake this on your behalf. The cost for this will be provided on request.