Royal Mail releases detailed guidelines for hand-written mailing addresses

Royal Mail circulated a reminder outlining precise standards for manually addressed mail to ensure smooth processing by its sorting machines. Senders are instructed to place the recipient’s details in the bottom-left corner, left-aligned, without commas or periods, and to use clear black ink on a white background. The address lines should follow a specific order: name, house number and street, optional locality, town or city in all caps, and postcode in caps with a space.

Postage must remain in the top-right corner, and a clean margin should surround the entire address block. If a return address is included, it should be written on the reverse side, not near the front address. The guidance aims to reduce mis-delivery and delays caused by illegible or improperly formatted handwriting.