Q: I own a quirky property that has no direct street access. To get to the street door, where the mail is delivered, I have to go across a courtyard and down a passage belonging to a shop. I want to have a new doorway made at the back in another street. Does the Royal Mail have any legal obligation to deliver to my new door? Can I get the house renumbered according to the new street access?
A: Under the Postal Services Act 2002, the Royal Mail is required to make at least one postal delivery every working day to the home of each individual in the United Kingdom. They must, therefore, deliver to your new postal address, but they are not responsible for allocating anything other than the postcode.
The naming and numbering of streets and buildings is controlled by the local street naming and numbering authority - your local council. The powers are set out in the Towns Improvement Clauses Act 1847 (as amended) - although in London the relevant legislation is the London Government Act 1963. The controls are quite elaborate. For example, most householders are unaware that Section 65 of the 1847 Act requires them to display their house number or name and that they can be prosecuted if their number falls off the front door.
If a property is already numbered, the owner can add a name without needing permission, as long as the new name does not conflict with the name of another property in the area. If an owner does this, the new name will not officially form part of the address, and technically the owner must still display the number as well.
In your case, however, you will need permission to create a wholly new address. When you apply to the local council, it will try to ensure that the proposed name or number complies with British Standard BS7666 and it will consult the Royal Mail and other relevant bodies. The main objective is to allocate a new address logically so that ambulances and the fire brigade can quickly find addresses in the area. However, if you are simply proposing to add a new number 35A between numbers 35 and 37, you should get permission quite easily.
The writer is a barrister at Tanfield Chambers.
http://property.timesonline.co.uk/tol/l ... 853557.ece