Council to charge for Powys street and house names

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Housing developers in Powys will have to start paying a fee for naming new houses and streets from April 2011.

And householders will also have to pay a charge for re-naming their house or street.

Powys Council has instigated the charging scheme to cover the cost of administration because of an increase in demand for its service.

The local authority will charge £150 per housing development and up to £25 for each house on the estate.

It said it had to contact the Royal Mail each time a house name was changed or a new one introduced.

This is quite a large charge and could be a problem for smaller developers because it's extra costs like this that threaten the viability of projects
Shane Perkins

The council's board agreed to the proposal on Tuesday 1 February 2011 and the the non-profit making project will start on 1 April 2011.

The council has calculated that the total revenue generated by the project between August 2009 and August 2010 would have been £17,065.

A report by Cllr Wynne Jones to Powys Council's Board said that demand for the council's street naming and numbering service had increased dramatically during the past four to five years because service providers wanted a registered address before providing services.

POWYS COUNCIL FEES
1-5 plots: £150 + £25 a plot
6-25 plots: £150 + £20 a plot
26-75 plots: £150 + £15 a plot
Above 75 plots: £150 +£10 a plot
Street Renaming: £150 +£25 a plot

The report added: "The rise in online shopping has also had a significant impact due to their reliance on accurate address data.

"This increase in demand is having an adverse affect on the ability of the building control department to maintain existing levels of service provision elsewhere."

A Powys Council spokesman said that it received on average six or seven requests a day from householders or developers who wanted to name or re-name a house.

"It is our statutory obligation to keep accurate address information which we then pass on to the Royal Mail," added the spokesman.

Shane Perkins, chief executive of Mid Wales Housing Association said that he was disappointed with the decision.

The housing association manages 1,300 properties in Powys and Ceredigion and intends to build 60 new houses during the next financial year.

"This is quite a large charge and could be quite a problem for smaller developers because it is extra costs like this that threaten the viability of projects," said Mr Perkins.

"I am disappointed that Powys Council has decided to introduce this system during a difficult time for the building trade.

"However, I suppose it is understandable when you consider the pressure the public sector is under at the moment."