Address and Postcode Validation Rules

Addresses

For validation of an address to be successful, there are certain rules which must be followed.

Only the following characters can be used for addresses:

  • Alphabetic characters A-Z Numbers 0-9
  • Apostrophe ' Hyphen -
  • Comma , Full stop . Spaces

For example, 2/3 High Street would be incorrect because the forward slash / is invalid and must be removed.

A correct address would be as follows:

  • House Name
  • Number and Road - 12 HIGH STREET
  • Locality - NEWMANS
  • Town - WISHAW
  • County - STRATHCLYDE

    Note - long address lines may be truncated in Scotland.

House Name should only contain the flat number or name of a property if there is one, or be left blank. Up to 30 characters are allowed.

  • eg, House Name FLAT 1A or eg, House Name ROSE COTTAGE
  • but NOT the property (street) number.

Number and Road can contain the property number and road/street name. If House Name is blank, Road must be entered. Up to 30 characters are allowed.

  • eg, House Name
  • Road: 28 HIGH STREET
  • eg, House Name FLAT 1A
  • Road 28 HIGH STREET

In Scotland, the following address is correct - the House number always goes on the Number and Road line (in this case 12), whereas the house name and flat numbers (Flat 23-1 The Mansions) are in House:

  • House Name - Flat 23-1 The Mansions
  • Number and Road - 12 HIGH STREET
  • Locality - NEWMANS
  • Town - WISHAW
  • County - STRATHCLYDE

The following address is incorrectly entered, because the property number (12) should be in Road and not House Name; and the Town should not include any punctuation (the comma) and the county (Strathclyde), which should be in County.

  1. House Name - 12
  2. Road - HIGH STREET
  3. Locality - NEWMANS
  4. Town - WISHAW, STRATHCLYDE
  5. County

In Scotland, where there is a second thoroughfare, it should be entered in Number and Road after the first thoroughfare, separated by a comma and space. Where there is insufficient space in Number and Road for both thoroughfares, the First Thoroughfare (including the building number) should be inserted in House Name where this is blank, and the Second Thoroughfare in Number and Road. Or, if House Name is not blank, the Second Thoroughfare should be inserted in Locality where this is blank. If it remains impossible to insert the Second Thoroughfare, it should not be inserted.

Locality can be blank, or can contain the first village, town name or area, if one exists, if different to the property's post town name. Up to 30 characters are allowed.

  • eg, Locality AMBRIDGE
  • Town BORCHESTER

In the following example, there is no Locality in this address, but the mandatory Road and Town are entered:

  • House Name
  • Number and Road - 6 PRINCES GARDENS
  • Locality
  • Town - SELKIRK
  • County - BORDERS

In Scotland, two localities can be entered on the same Locality line, separated by a comma and a space.

Town is the post town of the property and must be entered. Up to 30 characters are allowed.

  • eg, Town LONDON
  • eg, Town IPSWICH
  • eg, Town GLOUCESTER

County should only contain the county of the property, if one exists, in the format agreed with your HA. Some HAs prefer to leave the county blank for some practices. You are advised to contact and consult with your HA. Up to 20 characters are allowed.

  • eg, County SUFFOLK
  • eg, County CORNWALL
  • eg, County STRATHCLYDE

Examples of Addresses

A correct address would be as follows:

  • House Name
  • Road 12 HIGH STREET
  • Locality FOREST GREEN
  • Town COVENTRY
  • County WEST MIDLANDS

The following address is incorrectly entered, because the property number (12) should be in Road and not House Name; and the Town should not include any punctuation (the comma) and the county (West Midlands), which should be in County.

  • House Name 12
  • Road HIGH STREET
  • Locality FOREST GREEN
  • Town COVENTRY, WEST MIDLANDS
  • County

It would also be incorrect for the address to be as follows, because the first three lines should be shifted down a line, so 12 High Street is in Road, Forest Green in Locality and Coventry in Town.

You can change any addresses in the same format using Locality, town and county:

  • House Name 12 HIGH STREET
  • Road FOREST GREEN
  • Locality COVENTRY
  • Town WEST MIDS
  • County WEST MIDLANDS

Postcode

In the postcode, there should be only be six or seven characters and one space in the format XXnn nXX.

Acceptable formats are as follows, where A is an alphabetic character A-Z, and N is 0-9:

AN NAA ANN NAA AAN NAA AANNNAA ANA NAA AANANAA

Note: One of the main errors with postcodes is using a capital O instead of a zero, especially in the third to last character.