7. Guidelines for numbering buildings
- A new street will be allocated a street name and the properties will be allocated numbers, regardless of whether the street from which it is accessed is a named or unnamed street
- A new street should generally be numbered with even numbers on the right side and odd numbers on the left side except for a cul-de-sac, consecutive numbering in a clockwise direction is preferred.
- Additional infill properties in streets which are currently numbered will always be allocated a property number. Alias names can be added if requested by the owner.
- Private garages and similar buildings used for housing cars and similar will not be numbered.
- Stables and outbuildings will not be allocated official postal addresses unless planning permission is approved for residential conversion or manned offices at the site
- A proper sequence shall be maintained, with all numbers included unless the omission of a number (for example 13) is specifically requested at the time of application. Once numbered we will not normally re-number properties. We will only renumber a property where there can be shown to be consistent delivery problems.
- We will not allow numbering out of sequence
- Buildings (including those on corner sites) are numbered according to the street in which the main entrance is to be found and the manipulation of numbering in order to secure a "prestige" address or to avoid an address, which is thought to have undesired associations will not be sanctioned.
- If a multiple occupancy building has entrances in more than one street, then each entrance can be numbered in the appropriate road if required.
- In residential buildings (example, blocks of flats) it is usual to give a street number to each dwelling where the block is up to six storeys in height or a letter suffix. When the block exceeds this height or there are not sufficient numbers available because of existing development, it can be given a name and numbered separately internally. Such names will be treated in the same way as house names.
- We will always use numbers followed by letters where properties are built on numbered streets (we will no longer allocate ‘terrace names’ due to numerous complaints from existing residents in numbered streets where terrace names have been allocated in the past). For example these are needed when one large house in a road is demolished and replaced by a number of smaller houses. To include the new houses in the numbered road sequence would involve renumbering all the higher numbered houses on that side of the road. To avoid this each new house should be given the number of the old house with either A, B, C or D added. Letters will also be used if the new development were to lie prior to the numbering scheme commencing. For example, if 4 houses were built prior to the first property number 2. The new dwellings would become 2A, 2B, 2C, 2D. This is vital to aid emergency service response and mail delivery.
We will endeavour to avoid using suffixes to numbers wherever possible. For new developments where additional properties have been requested after initial numbering we will renumber the entire street. This will incur a per property charge.
- For an infill of two or more properties accessed via a roadway (private or otherwise), which has no existing property numbers. We will number the properties and agree a ‘sub-road’ name for the buildings with the developer, for example 1 – 4 Country Cottages or we will officially name the roadway (via our standard procedure) and number the properties. For smaller roads where this occurs, it may also be necessary to include the main road name, for example 1 to 4 Curlew Mews, High Street to assist in locating the site
- Where a property has a number, it must be used and displayed. Where a name has been given to a property together with its official number OR an application is made to add a name to a property with a number, the number must always be included. The name cannot be regarded as an alternative. This is enforceable under section 65 of the Town Improvement Clauses Act 1847.
- We will enforce numbering of properties without numbers, for example in streets where all properties have names or those where numbers are not being displayed where this causes serious mail delivery problems or emergency service response issues.
- Once numbered a property will always retain that number, even if residents only use a name. Neither Strata nor the relevant council shall be liable for any mail delivery or credit rating problems caused by residents not using the given property number.
- Royal Mail will only register properties which have their own entrance and/or their own secure letter box. Sometimes this can cause problems as people think their address/flat should be registered. If mail for a building is delivered to a single letter box, and occupants then collect their own mail, Royal Mail class this as a ‘building in multiple occupation’ and will only register the parent building and not individual flats.
- For commercial properties, whenever possible, unit numbers will be allocated. If there are special circumstances that make numbering impractical then building names will be requested. However we will not normally register company / business names as the building name.
- All new commercial / industrial sites will be numbered (as per the residential process above). We will use combinations of number and letter where this is no alternative e.g. 1A, 1B etc.
- Where a building is divided into business and residential parts, if the residential element has its own access then this will be numbered independently. For example, we may use 7 for the business and 7A for the residential element. If the site is on an unnumbered street then the residential element should be named independently from the business to ensure a consistency of address if the business were to change. For example, rather than the addresses being The Swan Inn, Bank Street and Flat 1, The Swan Inn, Bank Street they would instead be The Swan Inn, Bank Street and Flat 1, Building Name, Bank Street.