Street Naming & Numbering Policy

Disclaimers

We have summarised our rules for Street Naming & Numbering (SNN) below. Please read through the relevant rules before applying.

Please note that the rules below are only a summary of the most commonly cited rules. For the full policy, please see the section at the bottom of the page.

Please note that an official postal address is not meant to be a locator for your property. They are routing instructions for Royal Mail. This means that sections may not make sense when considered from a navigational perspective.

Official Postal Addresses are allocated in the following format:

Address Line	Contents
1	[Property Alias] or [Business Name] or [Flat Number]
2	[Property Name] or [Property Number and Street]
3	Street (If not mentioned in the line above)
4	Locality (Where appropriate)
5	POSTAL TOWN
6	POSTCODE

Square Brackets have been used above to show where there are multiple options for the address line contents.

If a line in the table above would be empty for a property it will be omitted from the property's address.

Please note that Royal Mail may list certain properties under different localities.

The SNN Officer is responsible for verifying a proposal's compliance with these rules and has discretion to exercise their professional judgement to do so. Any decision to reject a proposal based on the rules below will be at the discretion of the SNN Officer and will have no appeal. All decisions regarding exceptional circumstances are final and will have no appeal.

Rules for Street & Property Names

The following rules are set out in the Council's SNN Policy.

Rule 1: The SNN Officer must seek permission from the Cabinet Office before allocating any street name referring to a member of the Royal Family. If permission is denied, the street naming proposal will also be denied.

Rule 2: Street names must be distinct from all other street names already in use in the same postcode area and/or parish. A variation in the terminal word, for example, "street", "road", will not be accepted as sufficient reason to duplicate a name. A common request is to repeat existing names in a new road or building title (for example a request for "St Mary's Close" off an existing St Mary's Way, near St Mary's Church). This is not allowed as it can have a detrimental effect in an emergency situation. This is in line with Government guidance found in circular 3/93.

Rule 3: The Council will not allocate street names based in unofficial 'marketing' titles used by developers. This rule includes any street name that has been publicly announced before approval has been granted by the Council. Names that refer to non-defunct businesses will also be rejected. This rule does not apply to property names.

Rule 4: Street Name Suffixes will be allocated in accordance with the List of Suffixes for Street Names on the Geoplace SNN Code of Practice (www.snn.geoplace.co.uk), where a suffix is required.

Rule 5: The use of cardinal directions (North, East, South, West) in street names is only acceptable where the street is approximately continuous over a junction. It is not acceptable for two sections of road with no direct vehicular access between the two parts.

Rule 6: Street names must not refer to any person that is currently alive, as this would breach the legal requirements set out in the Data Protection Act 2018.

Rule 7: Street names must not refer to any deceased person that has passed away within the last 10 years. Exceptions may be made to this rule if both the SNN Officer and a Relevant Manager agree that there are grounds for exceptional circumstances.

Rule 8: Property names must be distinct from all other property names within a postal area or parish. This means that we will not permit addresses that are similar in verbal or written formats (E.g. "Churchill Cottage" and "Birch Hill Cottage", or "Hay Barn" and "May Farm").

Rule 9: Property names must not be repeated in the addresses of other nearby properties.

Rule 10: Names must not be difficult to pronounce or spell, and must not contain punctuation.

Rule 11: Names must not cause offence or be easily defaceable to become offensive. The SNN Officer will make regard to the Equality Act 2010 when assessing proposals against this rule.

General Rules for Postal Addresses

The following rules are set either by the Council's SNN Policy, by the policies of our primary address stakeholders (Royal Mail & Geoplace LLP), or by law:

Property addresses will not be allocated to agricultural buildings or land.
Proof of residential or business planning permission is required before any postal addresses will be allocated. Certificates of Lawful Developments are acceptable proof for properties built under permitted development.
Each postal address requires a separate and secure delivery point (A.K.A. Letter box). All postal delivery points must be clearly visible and accessible from the nearest street.
Holiday lets & other non-residential structures will be addressed where the SNN Officer believes that there is a reasonable need for a postal address at the site and that the site is occupied by people regularly.
Temporary structures will only be addressed if they are acting as a stand-in while a property is under construction, where a temporary residential structure has received planning permission for permanent situation, or where a boat has been legally moored within the area of foreshore managed by Torridge District Council.
Campsites and caravan parks will not be given addresses unless there is a main administrative building on site. The administrative building will be the only structure to be addressed.
Where a property has a number and an alias, the number must always be displayed. This is because some organisations do not record the property alias.
Postal numbers will be allocated where the SNN Officer deems appropriate. This will usually be for developments of more than 4 properties or where a street already has numbered properties on it.
All property names and numbers must be clearly displayed at the property once the address has been allocated by the SNN Officer.
Property Names and Numbers must not be displayed at the property before the SNN Officer has confirmed the allocation of a postal address. The Council accepts no liability for costs associated with changing property address signage or personal documents bearing an unauthorised address.
It is a criminal offence (under the Towns Improvement Clauses Act 1847) to display false address signage at a property.

Digital Site Plans

Applications for 5 or more properties will need to be accompanied by a Digital Site Plan.

Digital Site Plans must come in the form of a correctly geo-referenced Drawing (.dwg) File.

Your Architect or Architectural Technologist should be able to provide you with this.

If your application is not submitted with an acceptable Digital Site Plan, your application will be placed on hold for 14 days (AKA: Type 1 Hold) to allow you time to provide the required Drawing File to the SNN Officer.

If your case has been placed on a Type 1 Hold, and that hold then expires, the Council shall allocate any required street names and will then deny your application for individual postal addresses.