Street naming and numbering

Sutton council is responsible for the naming and numbering of new or existing streets and buildings within the borough boundaries.  We carry out these functions under the London Building Acts (Amendment) Act 1939-Part II.

Individuals and developers are not permitted to allocate house numbers, building or street names. The council has the sole responsibility to name and number, ensure the addresses are shared with Royal Mail, emergency services and utility companies.

Whilst postcodes and post towns are allocated by Royal Mail, the council has a statutory function to allocate property numbers or names and street/road names to new developments and property conversions.

No other organisation (such as Land Registry) has the legislative powers to create or allocate property numbers/names or street/road names.

Street names and addresses are data that is compiled locally, with unique identifiers and then sent to a national hub who updates and maintains a definitive national address database, so that all physical addresses are recorded accurately.

The Process

All new numbers or names for streets or buildings will be considered against our procedure for  Street Naming and Numbering, which is designed to minimise the chance of any confusion in emergency situations, by preventing address duplications or similarities in the local area, including neighbouring boroughs.

As part of this process we will liaise with Royal Mail to allocate a postcode or postcodes and this process can take up to 15 working days, once the application has been acknowledged. Please note that utility companies and other private companies which provide services, will generally not carry out these services until the address is included on the Post Office Address File (PAF). The Royal Mail will not add addresses to PAF until they receive the required information from the council.

As well as being included on the national database and the Post Office Address File, all approved, new or amended addresses are sent to the Emergency Services, Royal Mail, Ordnance Survey, The Valuation Office, and Council Departments such as Electoral Registration and Council Tax.

Before you start

You will need to contact us if you need to do any of the following:

• Name/number new building(s)
• Subdivide an existing building (s)
• Rename existing streets and building(s)
• Renaming/Renumbering of building(s)

Further Information

We have prepared these guides if you require further information

A Guide to Numbering Buildings
A Guide to Naming Buildings
A Guide to Naming Streets
A Guide to Postcodes & Mail Delivery Issues

How to apply

To make an application, you need to:

Contact the street naming & numbering team at street.naming@sutton.gov.uk

You should include the following:

Contact - Developer/owner/freeholder/applicant contact name*.
*(We always require the freeholder’s permission)

• Address of the freeholder.
• E-mail - Contact email address.
• Telephone - Contact number.
• Type of application - New street/road name and numbering/development.
• Type of development - Is it a new build or a conversion of an existing property.
• Location of development - Descriptive name of location of development.
• Location/Layout Plan – Plan should highlight the front door location in relation to the existing street.
• Planning reference number - The planning reference number that approved the development & Decision Notice.
• Suggested name - If the developer/applicant has a suggestion for the name(s) of the streets these should be included here.
• In the case of flats, it is helpful to make us aware if there is a single letterbox for the block, a bank of postboxes in the lobby, or if each flat has its own letterbox, which helps our colleagues at Royal Mail.

Your application is subject to a charge (reviewed annually)

Charges for street naming and numbering

• New house/unit (single) £146
• New property name £246
• Change of name or number £146
• Name road/street £347
• Amendment to approved schedule or plan £25 per amendment per property impacted
• Copy of confirmation of postal address £31
• Copy of plot to postal list or postal plan £10
• Archive search (providing historic property information) £100

Charges valid from April 2023.  VAT is not applicable to charges made in respect of naming and numbering. 

How to Pay

You can pay by going to the Sutton Online Payments system

Select Street Naming & Numbering.

In the first field, please enter your street naming reference number, in the second field, please enter your bank account name, then in the corresponding fields, enter your address details and finally payment amount.

Please let us know when payment has been made and we will progress Street Naming & Numbering.

What happens next?

Following receipt of your application we will:

• Inform you as soon as possible, if the proposal is not consistent with our guidelines, or has been objected to on the grounds of similarity to an existing street/building, and invite you to consider alternative suggestions.
• Consult with Royal Mail and Ward Councillors’, where appropriate, on your proposal and inform you of the outcome within 15 working days. For new streets and large developments, this takes 30 working days or more, depending on complexity, to enable us to consult with councillors.
• Notify the Emergency Services and other relevant public bodies.
• The freeholder must notify the Land Registry of the changes (it is not the responsibility of the council).
• Send out an official certificate of completion, which includes details on how to update the Land Registry with the changes.

Contact

If you would like to discuss your proposals before making an application, please contact the street naming & numbering team on the email address below.

Email: street.naming@sutton.gov.uk

Postcodes and Postal delivery Issues

Postcodes are allocated by Royal Mail under the Postal Services Act 2000 and the council has no control in their allocation. A postcode is a sorting and routing instruction to enable Royal Mail’s staff to deliver items quickly and accurately.  A postcode is not a geographically accurate description of where a property is located.

If you are experiencing problems with the delivery of your mail, you should in the first instance contact Royal Mail Customer Services www.royalmail.com or you can email them at addressdevelopment@royalmail.com or phone them on 03456 011 110 and press option 3, then option 1 to speak to an advisor.

Their address is:
Address Management Unit
Royal Mail
Admiral House
2 Admiral Way
Doxford International Business Park
SUNDERLAND
SR3 3XW

Please note it is the responsibility of the council to request postcodes for new properties from Royal Mail, who allocate them.

Royal Mail cannot allocate postcodes to developers or individuals.