Property Addressing

Street Naming and Numbering

Comhairle Nan Eilean Siar under the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982, section 97,  has the responsibility to name and number streets for housing developments and to name and number new developments, or to rename and renumber existing developments in consultation with the Local Members, except where the name in question involves a serving, or former Member, of the Comhairle.

Addressing

This service is provided by the Data Custodian within the Comhairle. The Comhairle will create addresses in accordance with BS7666 database addressing standard, which aims to standardise addresses across the UK. BS7666 specifies that all address should be unique; therefore it may not be possible to create the address exactly as requested by the developer.

New Addresses

If the address supplied on a Planning Application complies with the standard, the development will be registered with that address. If the address supplied already exists an alphabetic suffix will be appended to the number for that property. If this is not an option the developer will be contacted and given the opportunity to re-address the development.  When a Building Warrant Application has been approved by Building Control the developer/house owner should contact the Data Custodian to register the address.

Renaming and Numbering

A property owner may wish to rename or renumber their property. They should contact the Data Custodian and provide the following information:

• Current address on property
• New address for property
• Contact Name and Telephone Number

The Data Custodian is responsible for registering this information with external agencies. 

Who is Contacted?

The following agencies are contacted by the Comhairle: -

• Royal Mail – The Comhairle registers the new address and the Royal Mail allocates the postcode.
• The Assessors Office – The Comhairle registers the address and the Assessors Office values the property.
• The National Gazetteer for Scotland – National database of addresses for Scotland.