EVER fancied changing the name of your street?

Think about it before you do because it could put you and your neighbours back a few pounds.

Taunton Deane Council is considering charging developers and homeowners to name their street or number their properties.

Currently the service is provided for free, but the estimated £16,000 annual income billing for it would generate could cover the authority’s costs.

The Deane House is legally obliged to name and number its streets and houses, with the details fed into a national database used by the emergency services, Land Registry, Valuation Office Authority and the Office for National Statistics for Census.

In a report to the Deane’s community scrutiny committee, officer Mark Hill said: “The council provides a comprehensive street naming and numbering service to applicants encompassing a broad spectrum of new development types, and the renaming and re-numbering of existing streets and properties.

“The cost of providing the service is substantial, not only in terms of staff time, but also the additional costs associated with preparing schedules, layout plans, printing, stationery and postage.

“A number of local authorities in England and Wales have introduced a scale of charges for the street naming and numbering service.

“It has further been established that in addition to those already having implemented charges, a considerable number of authorities are in the process of preparing reports.”

He added: “The introduction of a scale of charges would subsidise cost of service provision, thereby enabling the continuation of effective service delivery to both public and private sector bodies and in particular to ensure that emergency services are able to locate any address to which they may be summoned.”

The proposed charges, calculated from the last three years of and comparing other local authorities are: +property naming/renaming - £50; +new individual dwelling - £100; +developments with more than one plot/property - £100 plus £10 per plot, changes after notification - £10 per plot; +renaming at residents’ request - £150 plus £25 per plot.

*If you are thinking of renaming your street, then it could have a bearing on the value of your house, according to a survey by Barclays Mortgages.

That concluded that the average home price of homes with the word Lane in their address is £245,906.

That is followed by Way (£218,742), Road (£212,717), Close (£204,374) and Avenue (£192,344).

But a simple Street lingers in last place with an average house value of £142,374, around 29% below the national average.