Isle of Anglesey County Council

• In emergencies, particularly at night, the need to find addresses quickly by doctors and emergency services can be a matter of life or death
• Deliveries and services as well as visitors need to be able to locate properties efficiently
• Many legal transactions associated with properties are withheld until they can be identified by street name and numbers, for instance, statutory providers such as gas, electricity and water will not normally connect their services until such time as the premises have been given a formal postal address
• Consistency of property-based information across Local Government and within the user community

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.

You only need to seek permission from the Council if there is no number allocated in the official address (for example if the property has been allocated a name as part of its official address).

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 put their request in writing, stating their name, 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, emergency and essential services and other relevant Council Services. It is the responsibility of property owners to inform their own personal contacts.

Where a name needs to be chosen (formally or informally), those wishing to change or add a name to their house are encouraged to use Welsh names in accordance with the Council’s Policy on Naming and Numbering Streets and Houses.  

This service is not currently chargeable.

If you are a developer of a new 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 named or numbered into the existing street.

If the street has named properties, we will follow our standard ‘Naming your House’ process. If you are not in a position to allocate a property name at the time of construction, we may agree to use the development plot numbers initially to register the property address and subsequently, when the new owner chooses a name, they will have to follow our standard process of Property Name Change.

Where a numbering system does not exist and where a name needs to be chosen you are encouraged to use Welsh names in accordance with the Council’s Policy on Naming and Numbering Streets and Houses.

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 registered address from which we would ask you to inform your prospective purchasers of their new property address.

If an application is submitted at a late stage and is subsequently rejected, numerous problems can arise, especially if purchasers have bought properties marketed under an unapproved name.

You are therefore strongly advised to be very cautious in the use of marketing names for your new development because if it fails to meet the specified criteria it will not receive the Council’s approval and will therefore not be retained as part of the address. Any literature distributed to prospective purchasers should clearly state that the marketing name may not necessarily form part of the property address.

This service is not currently chargeable.

If you are a developer of a large estate, you should contact us as soon as possible, preferably before you commence work on site and ideally before an unofficial name has been created, marketed or legal documentation drafted, so that we can process the naming of any new streets and the numbering of your new properties without delay.

If an application is submitted at a late stage and is subsequently rejected, numerous problems can arise, especially if purchasers have bought properties marketed under an unapproved name.

You are therefore strongly advised to be very cautious in the use of marketing names for your new development because if it fails to meet the specified criteria it will not receive the Council’s approval and will therefore not be retained as part of the address. Any literature distributed to prospective purchasers should clearly state that the marketing name may not necessarily form part of the property address.

The Council reserves the right in all circumstances to replace a marketing name with a street name of its choosing.

Please note: new street names will have to comply with the Council’s Policy on Naming and Numbering Streets and Houses , which states at paragraph 5.3 “Where new streets or estates are being named, the new names will be based on the native and historical Welsh names in the area. When a new name is to be adopted, that will be done in Welsh only.” Names that do not conform to this requirement will not be accepted.

We will check your suggested street names for duplication in the local area and forward them to Royal Mail and the relevant Town or Community Council for consultation. It may save time if you were to consult the relevant Town or Community Council direct, before submitting your application.

When we have an agreed name, we will then register the street name(s) and prepare a numbering schedule. The information is then sent to Royal Mail, public utilities, emergency services, Land Registry, Ordnance Survey and relevant Council services.

You will also be sent a copy of the naming and numbering schedule (which may include the Postcode allocated by Royal Mail) from which we would ask you to inform all your prospective purchasers of their new property address.

Where appropriate, you will be asked to provide new street name plates to our standard design and specification.

This service is not currently chargeable.

On rare occasions it becomes necessary to rename or renumber a street

Where :

• There is confusion over a street’s name and/or numbering
• New properties are built in a street and it is not possible to insert the new properties into the existing numbering scheme by using suffixes such a ‘A’, ‘B’, ‘C’ etc. and there is consequently a need for other properties to be renumbered to accommodate the new properties.
• The number of named-only properties in a street is deemed to be causing confusion for visitors, deliveries or the emergency services

Existing residents will be contacted and their views taken into account. We will then consult the Royal Mail for their position on the issue. To change a street name we will ballot the local residents on the issue. Hopefully there will be 100% support, but we require at least a two-thirds majority to make the change. This a very time consuming process and involves making legal orders. If there are objections to a proposed renaming/renumbering Order, it may be necessary to refer the matter to the Magistrates Court for a ruling. Re-numbering existing properties/buildings or re-naming streets may cause costs and or disruption to individual occupiers and wherever possible should usually only be considered as a last resort.

This service is not currently chargeable.

The County Council is not responsible for issuing Postcodes, as this is solely a matter dealt with by the Royal Mail.

Visit the Royal Mail website or telephone 08456011110. The Royal Mail will not create a postcode for a new building without confirming that the address has been officially assigned by the Street Naming and Numbering Authority.

Royal Mail does not publish on its web site addresses of properties that are not yet complete and /or not yet occupied. This means that in certain cases addresses that have been agreed with the Council may not, for a while, be visible to anyone using the web site to validate an address.

In such circumstances, it is the developer’s responsibility to notify Royal Mail that a property has been completed, in order that they can move it from their ‘Not yet built’ file to the main postcode database.

Royal Mail can be contacted on the number above. If Royal Mail have informed us of the postcode they have allocated to your property before we send you the registered address details, we will include the Postcode.

The application form should be accompanied by:

A plan showing the street layout with existing street name or suggested street names. The plan should be at a scale of 1:2500, 1:1250 or 1:500 and should include a North Arrow, showing the proposed road(s) and plot numbers (or name) and enough of the surrounding area, including existing road names and property numbers, so that it can be referenced to Ordnance Survey mapping data. This plan indicate the main entry point for each property in relation to the adjacent street.

An internal layout, if appropriate, for developments that are sub divided at unit or floor level, e.g. a block of flats. The main entrance to the flats shall be clearly marked in relation to the adjacent street.

Contact

• In person: By appointment – 10am – 4pm Monday to Friday
• By post: Street Naming and Numbering, Highways Waste and Property Services, Council Offices, Llangefni, LL77 7TW
• By telephone: 01248 752369 or 01248 752364
• By email: snn@ynysmon.llyw.cymru 

Please see the Street Naming and Numbering Application Form (SNN1) and the Policy on Naming and Numbering Streets and Houses below.