Change of name charge

Homeowners wanting to change the name of their house will now be charged for the privilege in Breckland.From tomorrow householders in Breckland will need to pay the district council £25 to change, or give their home, a name.

Homeowners wanting to change the name of their house will now be charged for the privilege in Breckland.

From tomorrow householders in Breckland will need to pay the district council £25 to change, or give their home, a name.

This means anyone moving into a new build will not be able give their property a name without forking out £25.

And people who own a home already with a name and fancy a change will also have to stump up the money.

Changing the name of a house is a common tool to help it sell, and estate agents say a good name can help make a house more marketable.

But the council claim the introduction of the charge is to cover administration costs, and in no way reflects the level of house re-naming demand.

A Breckland Council spokesman said: “Every council needs to maintain a statutory and up to date address list. The list feeds into a national database which the emergency services, Royal Mail, and people who pay for it, have access to.

“There is a big administrative burden of why we have to do it. The charge is simply to cover costs.

“There is no way of knowing why people are doing it, but we are not implementing the charge because there are more requests. An extra person will not be hired to deal with it.

“We are aware other district councils in Norfolk do not have the same policy. It does not mean they may not introduce it.”