# Land Registry - Change of House Name



## 1867ie (4 Dec 2012)

Hi all,

Hypothetical question:

If you buy a house and want to change the name, how do you go about it.

I've looked on the Land Registry website but not sure where to go really.

Has anyone done it?


----------



## Woodie (4 Dec 2012)

Isn't the LR reference just a folio number?   I'm not sure if they care what you call your house.  I seem to recall from friends who have named their house that they made AnPost aware of the changes and it eventuallty trickles through the system (ESB, Bank, Council, etc).  I'd guess if it was a substantial property then you might have to present an amendment to OSI as well.  
I'd be interested to know if there is an official process other than that.  So keep us posted if you get further info.


----------



## Time (4 Dec 2012)

House names have no legal basis in law. They are just a vanity feature. 

The location of the house i.e. the address as on the land registry folio is what counts.


----------



## Land Reg Rep (4 Dec 2012)

Land Registry are not responsible for the allocation, recording or management of house names. 
As other posters have suggested Land Registry allocates a unique title number to each property as it is registered and records a *Property Description* to identify, in textual terms, the property being registered. A Property description will comprise of House No/Name - Road Name - Postal Town -Postcode

In England and Wales there is no legislation setting out definitive addresses, and it is not uncommon for a particular property to be described in slightly different terms by different organisations, especially where names and numbers exist for the same property. Most organisations will rely on a version of the Post Office database to match their records against a listed address.

If someone applied to Land Registry to change or record a house name against a property then we would check whether it matched that held on the aforementioned database and check any evidence supplied authorising the change e.g. a letter from the local authority authorising the change of name (or where houses are re-numbered a letter informing the owner of a change of numbering). The Post Office simply update their own database.

If you intend to change the name of your property then I would recommend contacting both your LA and the PO to enquire as to how to make the change and also whether it is acceptable - in my experience the key to any change being accepted has usually been like or similar names nearby which can cause issues for not only the LA/PO but also emergency services etc. The LA and PO though are the best places to enquire.


----------

