Street naming and numbering

The address of a property is a very important issue. Organisations, postal services, emergency services and the general public need an efficient means of locating and referencing properties.

The Council has the legal responsibility for the creation of new addresses, under the provisions of The Public Health Act 1925, Sections 17 to 19 and the Towns Improvement Clauses Act 1847, Sections 64 and 65.

The power to charge falls under Section 93 of the Local Government Act 2003. This sets out that a Local Authority may charge for discretionary services (services that an authority has the power but not a duty to provide). An authority may charge where the person who receives the service has agreed to its provision and the charge must not exceed the cost of providing the service.

Therefore the Council cannot charge for street naming services (as the duty to provide this service is not discretionary), but it can charge for elements of the naming and numbering function (which is a discretionary service) by virtue of Section 17, 18 and 19 of the Public Health Act 1925 coupled with Section 93 of the Local Government Act 2003.

You must pay any charges in full before any address changes or additions are made. Address changes made without contacting us will not be officially recognised and will not be registered with the services and organisations listed below:

• Ambulance Service
• Council Tax and Business Rates
• Electoral Register
• Highways
• Land Charges
• Land Registry
• Local Land and Property Gazetteer
• Loop Customer Management for Yorkshire Water
• Northern Powergrid (Yorkshire) Plc
• Openreach
• Royal Mail
• School places
• Valuations Office Leeds
• Waste and recycling collection service
• West Yorkshire Fire Service
• Yorkshire Water

What does the Council charge for?

• Addressing of a new development
• Renaming an existing property
• To alter the addressing if plans if altered by developer
• Research into archives (where not part of statutory function)
• Renaming a street if requested by residents
• Confirmation of address details

In exceptional circumstances where the Council is the originator of a proposed change to an address in the Street Naming and Numbering Protocol there will be no charge for carrying out the tasks associated with this change.

• Schedule of charges for street naming and numbering

What tasks does the Street Numbering Officer perform?

• Validate application
• Enter application details onto Street Naming and Numbering System
• Consultation and liaison with various external organisations (which may include: Royal Mail, ward councillors) as a non-statutory element of naming streets.
• Produce numbering schedules where required
• Confirm official address to organisations listed above
• Notify applicant and provide written confirmation of official address
• Process payment

Request a new address

Bradford Council are the official street naming and numbering authority for the Bradford District and are responsible for creating and maintaining address data for the District.

If your development involves the creation of a new address you should contact the Street Naming and Numbering Service as soon as you start on site. Most utilities will not provide connections without a Local Authority approved address.

Contact the Street Naming and Numbering Service to request a new address.

Make changes to an existing property or street

The Street Naming and Numbering Service also deals with changes of house/property names and street re-naming and renumbering.

Contact the Street Naming and Numbering Service to request an address change or make a query about an address.

Royal Mail will only accept new or amended address information from the Council and if your address is not registered with them it can cause difficulties.

Pay for street naming and numbering

You can pay for street naming and numbering after your application has been submitted and validated. You can pay online, by telephone transfer or BACS.

• Pay for street naming and numbering now

Refunds

No refunds on a Street Name and Numbering fee can be made once a postal scheme has already been issued.

All refunds will incur a £50 administration fee unless a fee has been incorrectly charged.

Report damaged or missing street name plates

For information about how to report damaged or missing street name plates, visit our street name plates page.