Street naming and numbering

Street names and pedestrian walkways

The council is responsible for naming streets in the borough, under the London Building Acts (Amendment) Act 1939-Part II

The definition of a 'street' includes any highway, public bridge, road, lane, footway, cycle path, square, court, alley or passage whether a thoroughfare or not, maintained by the council or not.

Suggestions for street names are usually submitted by the developer, preferably with an historical connection. We need at least 3 options for each street name including an explanation of why each name has been proposed.

When a new housing development is built, all new street names must be authorised by us and they must be consistent with the following protocols:

• the name should, when possible, have a proven historical connection to the land intended for development
• the name should not conflict or duplicate any name already in use within the borough or neighbouring boroughs; we advise that you check the name by contacting us
• if the development contains a new network of streets a theme may be chosen, taking care not to repeat a theme already being used locally
• if no suitable historical name can be found for the land then a historical name related to an adjacent area may be suitable
• you must obtain the consent of the Lord Chamberlain's office if you use a name with any reference to the Royal family (or the use of the word 'Royal' is suggested)
• street names should not be difficult to pronounce or awkward to spell - in general, words of more than 3 syllables should be avoided as should multiple words
• no street name should start with the word ‘The’ or “A” as it can cause confusion during emergencies
• the naming of streets after living persons will be refused but if you do propose to name after a person, they must have been deceased inline with national best practice of 100 years 

The use of phonetically similar names within the borough and neighbouring boroughs such as 'Churchill Road' and 'Birch Hill Road' should be avoided.

Numbering buildings

The council will name or number premises in accordance with national guidelines and ensuring compliance with BS7666.

It is a legal requirement under the London Buildings Act 1939 that there is adequate signage erected in a clear, prominent position showing any street names and sub names (for terrace or block names).  On new developments, it is the developers’ responsibility to erect the appropriate signage once the premises are ready for occupation.

• any request for hotel style numbering will be refused unless there is a exceptional reason to do so
• proper numbering sequence shall be maintained and numbers with superstitious, religious, or cultural connotations will not be omitted
• all flatted accommodation must be given individual numbers where possible; the sequence will depend on the front door locations of individual properties. for example Flats 1-5, 67 High Street.  Any request for hotel style numbering will be refused
• the council will not remove numbers from existing premises unless it is necessary to resolve existing duplication/identification problems

Naming a building

Buildings are named to make finding them easier, particularly in large developments. It is the council policy to number properties wherever possible. However, blocks of flats and commercial offices may be assigned a name as well as a number.

• new building names should not duplicate any existing building name or similar name already in use within the borough, so Martin House if Martin Court was already in use
• new building names should avoid having 2 phonetically similar sounding names in the local area, including neighbouring boroughs, for example Churchill House and Birchill House
• building names should not be difficult to pronounce or awkward to spell
• experience has shown that naming buildings after people can sometimes be highly contentious and in the past have caused controversy. For that reason, we would never consider naming a building after a person, unless they have been deceased for a period of 100 years in line with national best practice
• eesthetically unsuitable names should be avoided such as ''Tip House', as should names that are capable of deliberate misinterpretation such as 'Swag House' and so on
• commercial premises might be prefixed with the word UNIT as deemed appropriate by the council, but will not be named after the business occupying the premises, for example Nandos House
•  the word ‘Royal’ should not be used in building naming without written consent from the Lord Chamberlain's Office

When a building name is required, we will need a list of at least 3 choices, preferably with a local historical connection.

All named blocks should end with one of the following (in addition they should not begin with ‘The’):

• House – residential or office blocks
• Court – residential blocks
• Lodge - normally used for a smaller property in the grounds of a larger residential property
• Mansion, - used for a single detached large property normally with large grounds
• Villas – semi-detached property – in pairs
• Point – high residential blocks only.
• Tower – high residential or office block only
• Heights - high residential or office block only over 6 storeys
• Studios - mixed business and residential only
• Centre - commercial only
• Parade – row of shops/businesses.
• Terrace - terrace of houses, not facing to an existing named street

For specialist buildings, such as commercial attractions, retail, emergency services, educational, and so on, an appropriate suffix will be allocated to facilitate easy identification of buildings and their relevant use.