Changing the name of a house

GabbaGabbaHey

We are in the process of buying a house which has a Name, but no Street Number (e.g., "Dunroamin, High Street, Anytown"). My wife would like to change the house name to one which was used on her parent's house. (e.g., "Sentimental Cottage, High Street, Anytown")

The actual name change is easy enough - just tell the council, and as long as it is not (1) obscene or (2) similar to another house nearby, then they will approve it. You can even do it online.

Other than the obvious (changing the name plaque on the house itself, and letting everybody - especially the Post office! - know about the change), has anybody had any experience of doing this, and are there any pitfalls we haven't thought about?

silvercar

Maybe wrong but I thought the post office had to agree.

It will be a long time before every Sat nav has your new name on their maps, so visitors could be getting lost for a while.

You may have a problem with online household and car insurance quotes and delivery address for online purchases as your address won't be registered. This could mean having to phone for quotes so kissing goodbye to your online discounts.

Lorian

silvercar wrote: »

Maybe wrong but I thought the post office had to agree.

It will be a long time before every Sat nav has your new name on their maps, so visitors could be getting lost for a while.

You may have a problem with online household and car insurance quotes and delivery address for online purchases as your address won't be registered. This could mean having to phone for quotes so kissing goodbye to your online discounts.

Most satnavs work on postcode, as do insurance sites etc. They can still pick the old house name/number until the new one appears in the lists, wghich should happen the next time the vendors update their PAF following the update to the post office.

When I moved into a new house it tooks about 6 months for all vendors to be aware of the new address.

vansboy

Just had the info from BT, about our new line, for our new house - it's come through with a name as well as a number.

We're not keen on using the name someone else chose - not sure if it was the builders, years back, or the previous owners.

Have to think about changing, as well.

VB

HugoSP

We've done this on our new house.

We informed the council and IIRC the PO as well.

For a while we gave our address as "New Name (formerly Old Name)"

It seemed to work.

Within around a year most online DBs etc were up to speed. If the new name is not on there then just give them or enter the old name, and mention that it has changed if you can.

morg_monster

Here's some guidance
http://www.yoursigns.com/housenames-rules.html
Basically if there's a name but NO number, you need permission from the local council and post office to change the name - this is so that you hosue can be correctly put on local maps, so ambulances can get to your house and stuff.

If you've got a number as well as a name, you can call the house anything you like, no permission needed, BUT you have to always give your address including the road number:
House name,
40 London Road
City
County

etc, etc.

guppy

If you do it through the councils street naming and numbering officer, theoretically, there is no need to inform anyone else, they should inform all utilities, emergency services and post office, etc. etc.

In practice it will probably take a while before everyone is up to speed...

dragonsoup

Have done exctly that. We just notified the council that the house was now called XXXXX. rather than YYYY. I really don't remember it causing any problems with post office, credit agencies, deliveries etc. We just said the house name and put the former name in brackets for a few months if necessary.

Now in our current house, which still has it's original name (unchanged for 200 years), we have endless problems with failed deliveries as they "can't find us" despite being a largish house in a prominent position on the road.

SquatNow

Can I request that the new name plate be large and lit up.

Nothing more annoying than looking for a house at night with no numbers visible.... right road, guess the house.