Registering a new address

[nod]

BC has advised me to contact the land registry to register our self build 

I was pretty sure I did it via the post office last time Wondering what others have done 

[Susie]

Post office for address, this let’s the emergency services etc know you exist land registry can be anytime e.g. when you sell or decide to split land   

[nod]

17 minutes ago, Susie said:

Post office for address, this let’s the emergency services etc know you exist land registry can be anytime e.g. when you sell or decide to split land   

Brilliant 

Thank you 

I was pretty sure that we used the post office last time 

 

Do you k ow if this can be done online ?

[ProDave]

Not here it's not, it's local council.  PO won't take instruction on a new address from Jo Public.  Which is why our new house is now on every address database except the PO.

[PNAmble]

We had to register with the council who then approved the address (no street numbers just a house name). Once approved,  They then released that information to post office, emergency services, etc etc.   

[Susie]

Postcode Finder: Report an incorrect or missing address

 

I think if you search the above term, it’s on the Royal Mail website. 
still waking up but I remember the needing a post box requirement which we have, but nothing else. 
 

[Post and beam]

£95 to the county council to register the address and they handled the cascading of the relevant info to who ever it needed to be cascaded to. That was last autumn in Hertfordshire if that helps.

[kandgmitchell]

We did ours last year as well. It was the District Council that had a form to fill and cost £175. They notify the Post Office who issue a postcode. That then feeds most address databases. It seems some services/retailers don't update their database very often and we occasionally find the address missing, but that's less common now after 6 months.

[Susie]

Sorry I was wrong, as others have said

 

First its the local council see below copied from my planning permission letter, this is before the build, 

 

Registering addresses for new properties prior to commencement

You must apply officially to register the name of any new street or the address of any new property through Cornwall Council’s Street Naming and Numbering process. You are required to submit an application form, plan and appropriate fee all details of which can be found on our website at http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/streetnaming. Developers are advised to contact Street Naming and Numbering at the earliest opportunity for street naming as the process involves consultation with the local Parish, Town or City Council and can take several months to complete.

 

Then its the post office to get on the maps for the post code.

 

I paid the council £85 before the build as per instructions so the VAT receipts and deliveries went to the build plot. The council do tell various others such as voting register and council tax, TV licence but in Cornwall they don't tell post office and that's what you need for the maps especially the blue light services.

 

You do not need to tell land registry though which is what your BC said.  There are thousands of unregistered properties in the UK they often do not get registered until they are first sold.

 

It appears the fee for the council varies a lot so maybe some councils tell the post office.

[Kelvin]

Also in Scotland you need the building warrant approved before you can apply for the address. Some DNOs won’t provide an electricity supply unless you have a proper address apparently. SSEN were happy that it was literally just a field with full planning approval but no warrant. 

[Kelvin]

While you don’t need to inform the land registry you really ought to then set up an alert for the registered land so that if there any changes you get notified beforehand. There are examples of people being scammed out of their property vis the land registry. 
 

https://www.gov.uk/protect-land-property-from-fraud

[Oz07]

Building control / local authority give you the address here.

[Benpointer]

We registered our address with the council  in June and they said they notify Royal Mail amongst others but our address is still not appearing on the Royal Mail Postcode Finder.  So I tried the Postcode Finder: Report an incorrect or missing address facility but it only accepts the new address if you have moved in or are moving in within the next two weeks.  

 

Which is a real pain because we have people wanting to deliver to the address regularly, MCS certificates and warranties needing to be registered to the address, etc. etc. 

 

I've told them via the facility that we've moved in even though we haven't - I'm now hoping Royal Mail don't tell* the council or else they'll be on our case for council tax!

 

* Since RM don't seem to able to tell themselves about our address I doubt they'll be telling anyone else.  Immediately after submitting the 'missing address' request via RM's online form I get an undeliverable email notice: "Delivery has failed to these recipients or groups: postcode.enquiry@royalmail.com" but also another email from RM stating: "Thank you for sending us your updated address request.  We're currently experiencing higher-than-usual volumes, so it may take a little longer to reply than usual. If you've already been in touch, please be assured we'll respond as soon as possible."  I don't hold out much hope of progress!  Hey-ho.

[Oz07]

Have your building control or local council given you the address?

[kandgmitchell]

So you filled in the inevitable application form and no doubt paid a fee to the Council (who are responsible for road naming and numbering). If the address is still not appearing then I'd go back to the Council and ask why......

 

We found RM were quite quick but it took a while for some suppliers to have the house name turn up on their auto address filler in thing. I presume they pay to have it updated and some update more often than others. 

[Post and beam]

One reason for the address still not appearing months after you have paid to have this done is because the local authority are waiting for you to tell them that a house now exists.

I have just been through this nonsense with East Herts. sorted in 2 weeks once i spoke to them.

[Alan Ambrose]

Yeah, there’s a ‘new build database’ or something and the standard ‘actually exists’ database. My LPA insisted on putting us on the former. That means that all but a few switched-on merchants can’t see it. Annoying for deliveries.

[ProDave]

For those finding their address is still not on the PAF, have a look here and see if you can find your house listed:   https://www.findmyaddress.co.uk/search

 

If you can find it there you will find it's UPRN, Unique Property Reference Number.  How I wish that was widely used instead of the PAF.

 

If your address is not on the PAF it WILL NOT stop post being delivered.  The only time it proves an issue is if you try and buy something on line and the supplier only offers "enter your postcode and select your house"  Any sensible merchant that allows the option of enter address manually and you will have no problem.

[Alan Ambrose]

Ah, that’s good - it includes the ‘not yet built’ database

[Post and beam]

I had to tell my local address authority that my house was now inhabited. Although i paid £95 about 18 months ago to register mine, and assumed that was all that was required. Lots of delivery companies had no idea the house existed, including Amazon.  It turns out you also have to inform the authority that the house is now occupied. But nobody informs you of this up front. This kicks off the ' add it to your live database' signal.

[Benpointer]

On 12/12/2025 at 18:18, ProDave said:

For those finding their address is still not on the PAF, have a look here and see if you can find your house listed:   https://www.findmyaddress.co.uk/search

 

If you can find it there you will find it's UPRN, Unique Property Reference Number.  How I wish that was widely used instead of the PAF.

 

If your address is not on the PAF it WILL NOT stop post being delivered.  The only time it proves an issue is if you try and buy something on line and the supplier only offers "enter your postcode and select your house"  Any sensible merchant that allows the option of enter address manually and you will have no problem.

 

Thanks for that info and link, very useful.  

 

I am currently trying to get Octopus to change the 'address' of our supply meter from a completely fictitious address made up be the plot vendor, to our actual 'approved by the council' address...

• I email the request as per the instructions on the Octopus website.
• They email back and asked for evidence that the council had approved the address, so I sent that.
• Then they came back and asked for a photo of the meter.  Ok, I took one and sent it to them.
• Then they said: "I can process the address change for you, but first, please update your address with Royal Mail. Once you've done that, could you please send me a screenshot showing the updated address on the Royal Mail website?"  Which of course RM have failed to do despite a request via their online form in June and two chasers since.
• So I have now sent Octopus a link to http://www.findmyaddress.co.uk in the hope they will pull their finger out and sort this.  

Octopus not covering themselves in glory here.

[ProDave]

5 hours ago, Benpointer said:

I am currently trying to get Octopus to change the 'address' of our supply meter from a completely fictitious address made up be the plot vendor, to our actual 'approved by the council' address...

•  

Let us know how you get on.

 

Our supply address started as a silly "land 50 metres west of..." address for the supply that was put in very early.

 

With out previous supplier, I changed that to the actual house address.  Previous supplier went bust and we got swapped to Octopus.  The address reverted to the original one.

 

So it is not just the address your supplier uses that needs updates, it must be on some DNO database as well.

 

I have not bothered the silly address does not bother me.  It might be of more concern if you wanted to switch supplier.

[Benpointer]

3 hours ago, ProDave said:

Let us know how you get on.

 

Our supply address started as a silly "land 50 metres west of..." address for the supply that was put in very early.

 

With out previous supplier, I changed that to the actual house address.  Previous supplier went bust and we got swapped to Octopus.  The address reverted to the original one.

 

So it is not just the address your supplier uses that needs updates, it must be on some DNO database as well.

 

I have not bothered the silly address does not bother me.  It might be of more concern if you wanted to switch supplier.

 

Indeed, and it's the sort of thing that can hold up a future house sale as the solicitors see a way to charge the buyer more money 'investigate further'.