Ruth Bloomfield: There's more to postcodes than just dinner-party talk from snobs

 
Postcode wars: residents in Whitton led a long-running campaign to rid themselves of their Hounslow postcode
Ruth Bloomfield10 March 2015
WEST END FINAL

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When the General Post Office first introduced postcodes to London in 1857 it can have had no idea just how socially divisive its system of alphanumerics would become.

This week residents of the unremarkable suburb of Whitton, south-west London, backed by Twickenham MP Vince Cable, emerged victorious after a long-running campaign to rid themselves of their Hounslow postcode (TW3 or TW4). The Royal Mail has, subject to consultation, agreed to recognise Whitton as a postal town in residents’ addresses.

And the case is not a one-off. A long-running campaign has been fought by residents stuck within the Deptford SE8 postcode but who are keen to join the glamorous ranks of SE10 (Greenwich). Meanwhile, in Windsor, there is a keen debate on how to rid the royal town of its shameful SL (Slough) postcode.

It is easy to dismiss worrying over one’s postcode as a First World problem, the uppity cousin of Tube zone and telephone code snobbery.

But there are some genuine reasons why postcodes matter. Home, travel and car insurance premiums are based, in part, on postcode, and depending on where you live you might miss out on anything from a place at a coveted school to top-rate medical treatment, to the ability to phone for a pizza — areas where delivery riders have been repeatedly robbed of their mopeds can be blacklisted by fast-food chains.

In terms of property prices there can be dramatic price differentials between neighbouring postcodes. Jamie Browne, manager of Haus Properties in Chiswick, recently found himself selling two flats on Acton Lane. The first was in the Chiswick postcode and priced at £699,995. The second, in Acton, was priced at £560,000 even though it was significantly bigger.

“Chiswick (W4) has long been a sought-after area, with its village feel and selection of popular eateries and shops, whereas Acton (W3) doesn’t have quite the same connotations,” explained Browne.

Buying agent Ed Tryon, a resident of W6, agrees that postcodes with cachet attract more interest from wealthy buyers — and thus their prices outperform. “I personally think the quality of the house should be infinitely more important than the postcode,” he said. “However, there are people who won’t consider SW10 even though it has some of the best streets in London — particularly The Little Boltons and Tregunter Road. But they only want to be in SW3 because it is seen as a better postcode,” he said.

Getting your postcode changed is a tiresome and lengthy affair which the Royal Mail will only do in “exceptional” circumstances. But there is a rich history of Londoners unilaterally rebranding their addresses, so that Battersea becomes south Chelsea and Raynes Park morphs into west Wimbledon. Ludicrously, there are even those who describe their Kilburn homes as being in “West West Hampstead”.

Estate agents are particularly skilled in this dark art: Hampstead Slopes (aka Swiss Cottage), Tyburnia (Paddington); and South Streatham (Norbury) are prime examples of London locations which exist only in their property particulars.

Mercifully, James Hyman, head of residential at Cluttons, feels postcode snobbery is on the decline. Rapid gentrification means areas that were once considered infra dig are now nothing to be ashamed of. “I think that over the past five years the market has changed so much that people are not as precious as they once were,” he said. “I don’t think they can afford to be.”

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