Reinstating a House Name

[walker family]

Please can you tell me how to re-instate my house name. This was taken away when a number was given, and I have tried for years to get my house name re-instated and everywhere I have tried I have drawn a blank. Can you please advise me on where I can re-instate my house name. I have tried the Post Office in Gerrards Cross, they cannot help. I have tried the District Council and they say it is not them, where else do I try.

I would appreciate the help.

Many thanks.

[Alan Lane]

Dear Walker Family,

Apologies for the delay in responding to your query, we will make enquiries as to how you might go about reinstating your house name.

Regards,

Admin (Jon)

[Alan Lane]

Adding a name where a house already has a number is an easy process.

The government website http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/HomeAndCommunity/WhereYouLive/StreetsParkingCleaningAndLighting/DG_10026169 says the following:

Naming your home

Provided your home already has a number, if you own the property you can add a name to it without contacting the council. Councils have no powers over house names, but advise that owners should not choose one similar or the same to any other house nearby.

The new name can be added to an existing postal address, but the postal number cannot be deleted from that address. The property name in this case will not officially form part of the property address – and the property number must still be displayed and used in any correspondence.

The rule is that once a house has a number, that must always be used (and should continue to be displayed prominently at the property so that the emergency services can identify it) but there is nothing to stop your adding a house name in addition. Your house number and street (minus your house name) are the official legal address of the house and that is what Royal Mail and the emergency services will use, but you can add the house name in correspondence and add a nameplate to your existing number.

Of course, if a name is added, the name should not be too similar to other names in the neighbourhood, and we require that residents seeking to change or add a house name consult us (via Jonathan Pegler) before doing so, to ensure sure that the proposed name is acceptable. There is (according to Chiltern District Council) no need to notify the Council, but it might be sensible to notify the Royal Mail at [email protected] – although, again, there is no legal requirement to do so. The Council say that Royal Mail are likely to say that they cannot do anything and to refer you back to the Council but, in that case, the Council assure us that there is no need to contact them.

You should be aware adding a name can sometimes cause inconsistencies between the databases used by various service providers which can in turn occasionally lead to difficulties in processing online transactions.

If you require any further assistance please do not hesitate to contact [email protected] who kindly did the research for this forum thread.

[Author]

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