Applying for official addresses - street or building names and numbers

Hillingdon Council is responsible for naming and numbering all buildings and streets in the borough. The council is the only authority able to create official addresses in the borough. The council's authority to control the naming of streets and buildings derives from Part of the London Building Acts (Amendment) Act 1939, the responsibility for which was transferred to London boroughs from the former Local Government Act 1985.

We ensure new addresses and address changes are allocated logically and avoid duplication or similarities. Implementing this service ensures the emergency services can easily identify properties in the event of an incident. It also ensures there's no confusion in postal or delivery services. Guidelines include the current recommendations of the London Fire Brigade.

The process

Property owners or developers must submit an application for a name or number as early as possible, ideally as soon as planning approval has been given. The application form must be accompanied by a site plan, floor plan and site map where appropriate. It should also show the street layout, an accommodation schedule (if applicable) and suggested names (if required).  

Applications are required for:

• numbering or renumbering of streets and buildings
• naming or renaming of streets and buildings

Application fees

Please note: Once your application has been assessed, we'll contact you to confirm fees and arrange payment. We cannot complete applications until full payment is arranged.

Apply now 

Street name and numbering application form

Please note - it can take up to 4 weeks to complete your application, depending on the research, inspections and verifications that may be needed.

For more information, email streetnamingandnumbering@hillingdon.gov.uk.

Guidelines for applying

• Proposals can be submitted by owners, developers or occupiers, provided the freeholder's permission is obtained.
• We generally avoid renaming existing named streets that contain occupied buildings, unless the benefits outweigh the obvious disadvantages. However, if changes occur that cause or are likely to cause problems for the occupiers, the Post Office or the emergency services, then the street (or a section of it) may need to be renamed. For instance, where a road has been split into two or more sections by traffic management schemes or development across it, and traversal of the whole length of the road is no longer possible, one section would have to be renamed to avoid confusion.
• Names with some link to the history or environment of the locality, or commemorating a former distinguished resident or someone who was active in the community, are preferred. Names of people still living or deceased for fewer than ten years are no longer permitted.
• We discourage the informal adoption of marketing names by developers. These are names which are perceived to have some attraction to prospective purchasers. However, these names are unlikely to be approved by the council for address purposes, and so this practice can cause confusion and inconvenience for the eventual occupiers. Marketing names do not form part of official addresses. 

Criteria for new names and numbers

1. The name should not duplicate, or be similar to, an existing name or part of a name in the same locality, as defined by the emergency services. A variation in the terminal word/suffix ("Road", "Close", "House" etc) is not considered sufficient difference if the name includes a word already in use locally. Care should also be taken to avoid phonetically similar names in the same area (such as "Churchill Road" and "Birch Hill Road")
2. The name should not be difficult to pronounce or awkward to spell for the majority of the population, and should be easy to understand over the telephone, particularly in an emergency situation. Names of three syllables or less are generally preferred.
3. The name should not include words having aesthetically unsuitable or offensive connotations for the general public or a particular community, or be capable of deliberate misinterpretation or double meaning.
4. The addition of "north", "south", "east" or "west" to a name can only be approved in circumstances where a long continuous road passes over a major junction. It's not acceptable when the road is in two separate parts with no vehicular access between the two. In such cases, one part of the road should have a completely different name.
5. Where appropriate street numbers are available, subsidiary names for a row of buildings within an existing named road will not be approved.
6. No new street or building name should begin with "the", for example, "The Coppice".
7. All new names should end with a terminal word or suffix from the list in "Approved suffixes for new street and building names", which indicates the nature of the development.
8. Avoid misleading names such as Tennis Court, Dead End Road etc.
9. No use of punctuation, except for the abbreviation of St, Saint.
10. Names should ideally reflect local history or relate to geographical or environmental features of the area and site/development.
11. Street, building and flat numbers are allocated in numerical order without exception. Numbers with superstitious, religious or cultural connotations will not be excluded or changed.
12. Numbers will rise consecutively. Where street numbers with letters are required (for example, 5a, 5b), these will also rise. So, for example, 5a would be between street numbers 5 and 7 and not between street numbers 3 and 5.

What happens next?

On receipt of your application we will:

• assess your request
• calculate the fees
• contact you with any queries
• consult with the emergency services and internal council departments 

If your proposals comply with the council's requirements for street naming and numbering, the new address will be formally allocated. Please be aware, only Royal Mail can allocate postcodes. We'll liaise with them during the application process to ensure the correct one is applied before notifying you of the final address.