United Kingdom Address Format Guide: Structure & Examples

Updated: July 9, 2025
Table of Contents

United Kingdom Address Format Guide

In this comprehensive guide, we’ll explore the standard address format used in United Kingdom. Whether you’re shipping packages, sending mail, or validating addresses for your business, understanding the proper address structure is essential for successful deliveries. We’ll cover the basic elements, provide examples, and explain how GeoPostcodes can help with address validation.

United Kingdom - Address Format

An address format in United Kingdom contains the following elements:

  1. Recipient’s name
  2. Business or department name (if applicable)
  3. Flat/Unit/Building Name (if applicable)
  4. House number and street name
  5. Locality (where locality differs from the city)
  6. CITY NAME (in all caps)
  7. Postcode (7 digits)
  8. Country – UNITED KINGDOM (in all caps)

John Smith
395 Wilmslow Rd
MANCHESTER
M20 4WA
UNITED KINGDOM

United Kingdom Address Format Examples

Example 1:

John Smith
4 Church Street
West Coker
YEOVIL
BA22 9BD
UNITED KINGDOM

Example 2:

City of London Post Office
12 Eastcheap
LONDON
EC3M 1AJ
UNITED KINGDOM

Postal and Country Information for United Kingdom

Country/territory name United Kingdom
ISO codes ISO 3166-1 alpha-2: GB
ISO 3166-1 alpha-3: GBR
ISO 3166-1 numeric-1: 826
Administrative area count 5
Administration area names and abbreviations
  • England
  • Northern Ireland
  • Scotland
  • Wales
  • ENG
  • NIR
  • SCT
  • WLS
Term to describe postal codes Postcode
Postal code format AA9 9AA
Population 63 314 136
Total land area 244 535km²

How to Validate Addresses for United Kingdom Using GeoPostcodes Database

GeoPostcodes offers comprehensive address validation database to validate United Kingdom addresses. Our database ensures addresses follow the correct format for United Kingdom, reducing delivery errors and improving efficiency.

Use GeoPostcodes:

  • Address Database to validate Street Names, Localities, Cities and Postal Codes in United Kingdom
  • Postal Database if you only need to validate Localities, Cities and Postal Codes in United Kingdom
  • Population Database if you would like to do urban/rural mapping or compute how many people live in United Kingdom segmented by postal code, city or administrative divisions

You can leverage GeoPostcodes data to validate addresses in United Kingdom using:

  • Street column to validate Street names
  • Locality column to validate Localities (if applicable)
  • Post Town column to validate City names
  • Postcode column to validate Postal Codes