Address lookup

Last updated: 22 September 2023

Place address components on a page of their own.

Research by user experience experts has identified that some users struggle with looking up and finding an address. They should therefore be separated from other questions in a form. 

You must only ask another question on the same page as an address if it is logical to. For example, if you ask 'What address is on your Council Tax bill?' it would make sense to ask the question 'Do you currently live at this address?' on the same page. 

Addresses can be collected in a number of ways:

Postcode lookup

Use a postcode lookup when you want to capture a property address (where a postcode is required). 

When entering a postcode, validation should be set to accept postcodes in small case or capitals and with or without a space. 

You should use help text to guide the user in searching for and picking an address.

Allow users to enter their address manually if no match is found. Follow our manual address pattern.

Street lookup

Use a street lookup when you want to capture the name of a street. 

You should use help text to guide the user in searching for and picking a street. 

Location fields

Use a text area to capture the location of something that may not have a specific address. 

For example, if you're asking for the location of fly tipping and it cannot be pinned onto a map. 

When not to use an address lookup

Use a text area instead of an address lookup or text fields (for address sub-parts) when capturing the address of international users.

A text area supports a broad range of address formats. This means that the user will not get into difficulty when provide their address. They can also copy and paste their address in from a clipboard.

Find out more about when to use text areas for addresses.