Street Naming and Numbering Service

The address of a property is important for postal deliveries and the emergency services, as well as for the general public as an efficient means of locating and referencing properties.  You are legally obliged to clearly display your house number and it is essential that your address and postcode are correctly used.

East Cambridgeshire District Council has the legal responsibility for the creation of new addresses and to maintain a good standard of street name plates, under the provisions of The Public Health Act 1925, Sections 17-19 (external link) and the Towns Improvement Clauses Act 1847, Sections 64 & 65 (external link) 

Street Name Plates

The purpose of a street name plate is to identify the street or if necessary part of the street and must be used in conjunction with clearly visible property numbering.

The District Council now takes responsibility for the initial erection of street name plates on new developments but this is a chargeable service to the site developer as part of the street numbering and naming process.

All subsequent repair and replacement is carried out by the District Council.

Please note that it is an offence to attach any notice or advertisement to a street name plate.

To report problems with a street name plate, or to request a new street name plate, please complete our street name plate request form below:

New Addresses

All new properties require an official address.  We aim to make contact with the developer once we are aware that the development is underway.  Should you wish to contact us prior to this, please complete our new address enquiry form below:

Should your development include a new street, or additional street signage is considered necessary then the street name plates will be supplied and erected by East Cambridgeshire District Council, this service is chargeable to the site developer as part of the street naming and numbering process.

Adding, Changing or Removing a Property Name

If a property is already numbered, the property owner can add, change or remove the name of their property without contacting the Council.  Any new name should not conflict with any existing property names in the locality.  However, the property number must still be displayed as this is a legal obligation and must be referred to in all correspondence.

Should you wish for the property name to be recorded as part of your official postal address, or to remove or change a name previously recorded for your address, then please complete our Property Name Application form below.  Please note that there is a £59.30 administration fee payable online, on submission of this form:

Street Naming and Numbering Policy

Further information

Contact us 

You can contact the Street Naming and Numbering team at East Cambridgeshire District Council by: 

  • Telephone 01353 665555 
  • Email:  stnn@eastcambs.gov.uk 
  • Post:  Please mark for the attention of the Street Naming and Numbering Team, East Cambridgeshire District Council, The Grange, Nutholt Lane, Ely, Cambs, CB7 4EE