Application Guidance
The London Borough of Barnet is the statutory Street Naming and Numbering Authority and is the only authority which can create or change addresses within the borough. It is in the interests of all concerned that you apply for official naming and numbering as early as possible in the development phase in order to avoid delays in obtaining postal addresses.
The process involves us consulting with the Fire Brigade and Royal Mail so that duplications of names are avoided. The council follows a clear set of policy guidelines on naming and numbering that have been agreed with the Emergency Services and Royal Mail. The primary purpose of the guidelines is to create addresses, which are logical and consistent and can be located quickly and easily in all situations, but particularly in emergencies. For further information please read the more detailed Guidance Notes 
(PDF 144 KB)
There is a charge of £60.00 (no VAT) per postal address. For example a block of eight flats will have eight postal addresses and the fee payable would be £480.00. A house converted into two flats will have two postal addresses and the fee would be £120.00. The appropriate fee should accompany the completed application form. Payment may be made cheque; payable to London Borough of Barnet or you may pay by credit/debit card via the phone, tel 020 8359 2888.
The fee is the responsibility of the developer or the householder who wishes to change the address.
It normally takes about 8 weeks from receipt of the application to a decision notice being issued but may take longer on larger projects. Many insurance and utility companies use The Royal Mail database to search for addresses. Royal Mail will only add the new address to their Post Office Address File (PAF) following our decision notice but they do not make the address “live” on PAF until they are informed that the property is occupied. As soon as the address is “live” on PAF it will appear on the Royal Mail’s website. It is therefore in your interest to inform Royal Mail when a property becomes occupied as early as possible. We notify a number of other authorities including the Ordnance Survey, the A-Z mapping company and the utility companies of our decisions on a monthly basis; please note we have no control over how long these organisations take to update their data-sets or maps.
Early applications make the whole process more efficient, please complete and return the application form together with the correct fee and any relevant internal layout and location plans as soon as possible.
We will be pleased to receive your proposals for naming and/or numbering and will make every effort to accommodate your wishes however all proposals are subject to the policy guidelines and the Council’s decision.
Where a road that has been named is new or private, the responsibility for the erection of Street Name Plates remains with the Developer/Applicant. To obtain a quote and a copy of the Council’s specification, please contact our Highways Section on 020 8359 3013.
Email this pageLast modified by: Nick Baldwin on 01/12/2011