Neighbours have numbered their house…

[UprootedSunflower]

Not with the post office formally, just decided it’s awkward to have a name instead of a number and started using it.

No houses here have numbers and never have. All named from before the area was built up.

It’s really really annoying as they have named themselves ‘one’ but they are set well back from the road and have a high gate/ alley to enter. Mine is the first obvious house front at the end of the road. So I get their post a lot.

It also makes delivery drivers get angry- no one else has numbers, like we should, or knock constantly to ask which end of the road number one is (most houses are set back so it’s me who gets the brunt).

Ive tried talking about it, but they are determined houses need numbers and it’s easier. I’ve tried stopping the postman, but it’s constant agency staff changing over.

So… I started simply marking anything through my door with the made up address and not our names ‘not at this address’ and popping it back in the post box. Aibu? They have got really cross!

They are the kind of people who order constant parcels and get post still

Well, no, because by doing this, you raise an expectation that all the other houses have numbers too. And because the OP's house is the first visible house, that her house must be Number One. You're not introducing a new system if all the other houses don't have numbers, and you're not giving your house a useful name. You're also not using the name that is listed by the local authority and the Post Office. You've created the worst of all worlds.

"Is it illegal though?"

Yes, it is. Under the Towns Improvement Clauses Act 1847 and the Public Health Act 1925 only the local council can decide what name to give roads and what number to give houses.

It is an offence subject to a fine not exceeding level 1 on the standard scale (currently £200) if you pull down your house number or put up a different one.

It is also an offence not to renew the number if it becomes obliterated or defaced.

It would appear that OP's neighbour has not made an application to the council and "doing so adhoc" is not legal either.

Although that location is on a bridge, just, and not within 3 metres of a property.
Unless they are living under the arches of course

Thanks for your concern @BillStickersWillBeProsocuted . Fortunately, we have really good security here so I am not worried 😂

Are you on / under the bridge then?

😂😂
Should've checked before posting!

@StandingSideBySide - it's buckingham palace!

It takes me to Warsaw, near a nice coffee shop!(or have I got a different three words?!

Well if nothing else this is beautifuly highlighting the potential probelms with what 3 words!

Blimey it’s taken me to Oxford, lots of trees, nice view, lovely!

Sent me to Oxford….or am I missing the BP sarcasm?

OP, yanbu to return or not accept anything that is not for you or your address.
I wouldn't engage with them further, just return everything.
Their problem.
Typical CF behaviour.

Is the road adopted or not?

If the road is adopted then it is down to the local council to put up a road sign (they are required by law to do this).

If the road is unadopted then I'm not entirely sure where the responsibility lies. I think the local are still responsible but I'm not sure.

But the police/ ambulance/ delivery driver has probably never been to the house, so nothing other than a logical number or extremely obvious name makes sense. The neighbour is trying to do something that makes sense at least. OP is being thoroughly puerile sending neighbour’s post back when she could just pop it through the letter box. Let’s hope she never needs the neighbours!

The link on the post takes you to Oxford - but it's a different three words. The three words mentioned in the post are Buckingham Palace. Neither of them is the poster's home.

I think you're just looknig at the first place it takes you if you don't put PIPs 3 words in

The emergency services go by the street records, so will know the old name of the house and its location - they use postcodes or What Three Words in locations where the street numbering is not straightforward. They will NOT know that the house is now 'number one' so this is another issue created by unilaterally renaming your home.

@StandingSideBySide I always direct people to just by the central arch - then they will either be presented to me😂 or arrested

Yes agree.

I just looked and it doesn’t recognise my address at all
Why is that?

Do you get a lot of misdirected parcels? 😁

But the ‘system’ in place isn’t a system. It’s just a series of probably irrelevant words. It’s no less confusing than ‘1’. It can be very hard and slow to find a house without a number. I’d rather be a random number than a name, at least it’s clear and easy to identify for all languages

I once tried to get a package delivered to me at work, at an incredibly famous location, and the courier 'couldn't find it'. I wonder if What Three Words could have helped then?

I've never used WTW by the way and it does seem to be quite poor at recognising house names, based on my own efforts just now. I'm assuming that the emergency services use it if you supply the words as otherwise it might not be much help - I know they do use it but it's quite random!

Same here. I have a pretty unusual named road (there's 99 of them across the whole country).

Developers are building a new development less than a mile from my house and they have called an entire block of flats the same as our road name! It's not built yet, but I am fully expecting us to get post for them when it does, especially as people will likely forget or ignore the second line of their address.

i.e. let's say we're "23 Deansgarden, Townname". The new flats will include "23 Deansgarden, New Road, Townname".

So why on earth when I click the link do I get taken to Warsaw???

I’d take this as an opportunity to go to Google earth and have a walk around.
Ive been all over the world on google earth 🤣 especially during lockdown 😁

Have you tried putting just your postcode in? That should take you to the centre of the postcode and you can find your house from there.