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

To be clear, theirs is first… but accessed by a high gate and alleyway to a side entrance. It looks like it’s actually part of a building on the next road. It is the first addressed property on the road, mine just looks more obvious as I have a full front and a very short path whereas their house is set well back

But that address doesn't exist in the eyes of the post office, that's why it's getting misdelivered. It's not really the Royal Mails fault either.

You can't just decide what address you want to be.

I certainly wouldn't be accepting any parcels and any post I did get I'd just return to sender and post it back. Especially if their not being reasonable about it.

Put a big number 2 on your letterbox?

If they needed them that badly they should have put the correct address then shouldn’t they.

Continue what your doing and if they say you are still writing return to sender etc deny it and say it must be you going to another neighbour as you haven’t been getting anything for them.

My new build wasn't on the Royal Mail system. It took two weeks for them to accept my house number and add it. I don't know how your neighbour can just decide to number the house without going through the RM system. I'd get in touch with RM and ask if this is acceptable to them and if so, what is your house number.

Just send everything back return to sender and refuse to engage with delivery drivers. If they dump stuff on your property complain to the delivery company. I’d probably also make a formal complaint to the post Office. If your neighbour gets cross then so be it, you aren’t an unpaid concierge service for them and their misaddressed post.

I’d hate having a house that was named and not numbered, but unilaterally attempting to change the postal system isn’t the answer!

Yeah. If anyone knocks I just say ‘sorry, there’s no such address- these houses are named’ (true). I’m fed up of directing people next door, often to delivery drivers who persist as they can see I’m working in the front room. I have to pause work meetings multiple times. I’m ok with this when it can’t be helped, but they’ve created an unnecessary and persistent issue that I don’t feel is my problem.
This is why the Amazon parcels starting just getting returned

Yes inform the Post Office as the UPRN will be incorrect:

www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/public/unique-property-reference-numbers

Also return every parcel and don't accept as someone said.

I'd stick a sign saying "6b" on the gate for a short time.

No point going with "2" as that only humours them and risks reinforcing their view that they're right.

Carry on with the returns.

(before long someone's going to mention What Three Words and we're going to get distracted by why that's not a solution and why it's a terrible thing in general)

Another thought - you say their phone contract was cancelled. You really don't want their contracts getting confused with your address. I don't know anything about the technical legallities but if you're accepting contracts there as if it's the correct addres it just sounds like it could end up being a headache you don't need!

The local authority are in charge of street naming and numbering and assigning UPRNs, royal mail only supply the postcode.

It would be odd that they're just started using it informally and getting deliveries as normally if you're address isn't on the PAF database it's a massive pain in the bum to sign up for anything

There is a site that sells house signs who have published rules around numbering and labelling houses. They have put...

The Rule is different if your property already has an existing house name and NO allocated house number. If you wish to change the name of the property, permission must be sought from the Your Local Council first. - You will need to notify your local council of your intention of changing the house name in writing before you can use the new house name for your address.

In the case of addresses where there is no number allocated, the registered house name forms part of the official address. - In this instance property owners wishing to change their property name should also put a request in writing to: Royal Mail Address Maintenance Unit, Sunderland, SR3 3XW, Email: [email protected] AND also their local Council's department responsible for street naming and numbering.

The request should state your full name, the present full address of the property and state clearly the new preferred name. The property owner must contact the Royal Mail Address Maintenance Unit to see if the name is satisfactory, then the new address needs to be registered by the Royal Mail Address Maintenance Unit. If there is an issue with your preferred name, they will ask you choose an alternative name.

It is the responsibility of property owners to inform their own personal contacts and relevant council services of any official change or addition to address. Various councils have different rules and procedures to change an existing house name, so it is wise to first check on your local council website about their procedures and regulations before you order a house sign with your new chosen house name.

The site was yoursigns.com. It may even be worth you contacting the RM Address Maintenance Unit yourself to inform them of the issue and explain their new label is causing huge problems.

Even if we numbered houses the area with the road name it is actually part of a triangle that looks like separate roads due to modern development. Most the houses are in the same obvious line, but not all. It was the village centre. There’s no linear logic as three houses are round the corner, 4 are across some grass and 2 are at a right angle to us after the church hall. I think it’s just a ‘don’t mess with it further’ situation at this point that requires no addition issue.
Knowing some of my neighbours and the businesses here we’d have multiple numbers ones too 😂

Sneak out at night and change the sign to read;
'None'
or 'Bone'
or 'Onesie'
or 'Oneism'
or 'Crones'
or 'the One and Only'

I had a similar problem. I got some cheap house numbers and stuck them on the letterbox of my neighbours property so that the postie knew where to deliver their mail. It solved the issue completely. You shouldn’t have to do it, but maybe sticking something to their gate might help?

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!

I'm not surprised. You are very unreasonable to do this, but they are unreasonable not to have signposted their house better.

I echo the suggestion to put a sign at your gatepost saying "number 1 <big arrow> and "<house name, Number 2 <road> above your letterbox.

Absolutely it's easier to have numbers.

The road we live on is a mix of names and numbers. We only discovered our house had a number three years after moving in. It isn’t on any of the legal documents. The numbers are also a bit randomly dispersed which makes it a delivery driver’s nightmare.

I think what you're doing is right - keep marking their post as 'not at this address' and keep refusing their parcels. It will be annoying for a while but make it their problem, not yours. They can get annoyed all they like but that's what happens sometimes when you make a stupid decision. Keep going and maybe they'll see sense.

Actually PP's suggestion to label your house 6b is probably better than 2!

Apparently you cannot arbitrarily change the name of your house or add a number - you have to seek permission (and pay a fee) to the local council, after which (assuming you have been given permission which in this case may the case anyway as no other property in the street is numbered), you can then inform Royal Mail. This is because it can confuse emergency services amongst other things and may, in fact negatively impact upon you in such an emergency.

I would call the council and explain the issue - and I’d continue to decline/return post/parcels for them stating that there is no ‘No.1’ so not known at your address. Make sure your address is properly and clearly named, though.

You’re being totally unreasonable, because you’re actually doing something incorrect with the post.

Whereas their house is actually called 1 and their post is addressed correctly, it’s just being misdelivered.

By all means stick it back in the post box labelled ‘missdelivered’ but ‘not at this address’ is actively wrong and you’re compounding the problem.

A practical solution is to:
Add their actual address to google maps
Add a sign under your house name to make it clear you’re not number 1 and a pointer towards where number 1 is.
Ask them to get a clear sign with their house identifier (doesn’t matter whether it’s the name or number or both, but whatever they use as the identifier) on their access point to help go with the sign you put up.

It’s a recurrent problem of living in an area with hard to find houses. There’s no need to do stuff that makes it worse.

Try to distance yourself from it, put all parcels to one side perhaps in a plastic box outside near your gate and ignore them.
if you can be bothered do up some sticky labels to peel off with not known at this address and stick them to the unwanted post and when you are passing a post box post it, so perhaps once a week. Don’t engage with neighbours apart from telling them where the box is positioned outside so they can look in it if they wish.
then you’ve done your bit and don’t need to get involved in it

What about the emergency services, how are they supposed to find them?

What’s annoying, is their house name is actually descriptive enough to give a good clue as to which one it is.

But it isn't number 1. There is no number 1 and nobody can just decide that is their address.

If OP adds any signage saying number 1 that way she's just reinforcing the neighbour's delusion about what their address actually is.