Street naming and numbering: Postcodes

Postcodes are a sorting and routing instruction for Royal Mail to deliver items of mail quickly and accurately. 

New postcodes

Once an address has been registered with us, we pass the information on to Royal Mail who allocate a postcode. We do not allocate any postcodes.

We obtain postcodes from Royal Mail for addresses.

After Royal Mail allocate a postcode they add the new postal address into the Not Yet Built file (NYB). When a property is built, occupied and can receive mail, Royal Mail will move the address to the  Postcode Address file (PAF). This means businesses and services who purchase their address information from Royal Mail will be able to see the address.

How to check your postcode

You can check a postcode on the Royal Mail postcode finder (external website).

If you can't find your postcode/address

If you can't find your postcode or address on the Royal Mail website, please contact Royal Mail (external website).