Resources

Transport
Policy & Development
Wearside Service Centre
Wearside Road
LONDON
SE13 7EZ
direct line 020 8314 2160
transport@lewisham.gov.uk
date

Dear Sir / Madam

The London Government Act 1963, section 43,

and
The London Building Acts (Amendment) Act 1939, Part II.

Please find enclosed an application for the assignment of or alteration to Names and
Numbers of Streets and Buildings. I should be grateful if you would complete the
enclosed application and return it to me as soon as possible.

Yours faithfully

Catherine Paterson
Transport Policy & Development
.
Street naming and numbering: additional information.

The address of a property is fundamental as more institutions and the general public require
an efficient means of locating and referencing properties. The Council is the street naming
and numbering authority for the area. It carries out these functions under the provisions of
the London Government Act 1963 and the London Building Acts (Amendment) Act 1939.

The Council will assign postal addresses to new properties and developments however
Postcodes are determined by Royal Mail after they receive confirmation of the address
assigned by the Council. All enquiries about postcodes should be directed to Royal Mail
Postcode enquiries at:-
• Postcode enquiry Line on 0906 302 1222
• Postcode Finder at www.royalmail.com

Numbering of Building/Street:
If you are a developer of a new or existing 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 numbered within the existing street numbering context. If the property is to be
located between existing numbered properties, then often suffixes may have to be attached
to adjoining numbers, for example 12A, 12B, 12C etc.

The information is then sent to public utilities, the emergency services, Land Registry,
Ordnance Survey and relevant Council services. You will also be sent a copy of the
registered address.

Naming of Building/Street:
When a new street is named we would normally expect the developer to put forward three
suggestions. Notices bearing the three suggestions will be posted on the street, e.g.
attached to lamp columns.

Please note: - All street naming is also subject to consultation with the emergency services
and the Royal Mail.

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 state in their application, 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, the emergency and
essential services and other relevant council services. It is the responsibility of property
owners to inform their own personal contacts etc. This service may be chargeable.
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 the property will be allocated a name
as part of its official address.

The property name change information is then sent to Royal Mail, the emergency and
essential services and other relevant council services. It is the responsibility of property
owners to inform their own personal contacts etc.

Naming & Numbering of Building/Street:

If you are a developer of a large estate, you should contact us as soon as you commence
work on site with your street/block naming proposals. We will initially check your proposed
street names for duplication in the local area and if they are appropriate we will commence
the statutory 28 day consultation phase.

During this phase, we will post public notices on street and directly consult the emergency
services and Royal Mail. If there are no material objections to the naming proposals we will
formally assign the names to the streets/residential blocks and assign street/flat numbers as
appropriate.

Following the assignment we will then register the street name/s on the highway register.
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 assignment and we would ask you
to a) inform all your prospective occupiers of their new property address and b) ensure that
first registration of the property at the Land Registry contains the assigned addresses. You
will be asked to erect street/block name-plates and street flat numbers as appropriate.

Renaming & Renumbering of Street:

On rare occasions it may become necessary to consider renaming or renumbering a street.
This is only carried out in exceptional circumstances when
• there is demonstrable confusion over a street's name and/or house
naming/numbering which would give concern in the event of an emergency

• a majority of residents/occupiers 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

To promote a change of street/block name or numbering we would ballot the affected local
residents/occupiers on the issue. Hopefully there would be unanimous support, but we
require at least a two-thirds majority to make a change. If that majority is achieved, we will
commence the statutory 28 day consultation phase.
During this phase, we will post public notices on street and directly consult the emergency
services and Royal Mail. If there are no material objections to the naming proposals we will
formally assign the names to the streets/residential blocks and assign street/flat numbers as
appropriate.

If you have any queries please contact:-

London Borough of Lewisham

Transport Policy & Development
Wearside Service Centre
Wearside Road
London SE13 7EZ

020 8314 2160 (dir)

transport@lewisham.gov.uk