Guidance for Candidates and Agents at local government elections in England

Home address form

The home address form must state:1

  • your full name
  • your home address in full
  • your qualifying address, or, where you have declared on your consent to nomination that you meet more than one qualification, your qualifying addresses
  • which of the qualifications your qualifying address or addresses relate to
  • the full name and the home address in full of the witness to your consent to nomination form

Your home address:

  • must be completed in full
  • must not contain abbreviations
  • must be your current home address 
  • must not be a business address (unless you run a business from your home)

The qualifying address

Where you have selected one of the following options on the consent to nomination, you must state:

  • option (a) on the consent to nomination - the address in full where you are registered as a local government elector
  • option (b) on the consent to nomination - a description and the address of that land or premises which you have occupied as owner or tenant
  • option (c) on the consent to nomination - the address of your place of work
  • option (d) on the consent to nomination - the address or addresses in full of where you have resided

Choosing not to publish your home address

You may choose for your home address not to be published on the statement of persons nominated or the ballot paper.

In this case the home address form must contain, as well as your full name and home address:

  • a statement, signed by you, which states that you require your home address not to be made public
  • the name of the relevant area in which your home address is situated (if your home address is in the UK)
  • if you live outside the UK, the name of the country in which your home address is situated

If you act as your own election agent, unless you provide an office address, your home address as provided on the home address form will still be published on the notice of election agents.2 This is the case even where you have chosen to withhold your home address from the statement of persons nominated and ballot paper.

What is the relevant area?

The relevant area means:

  • For home addresses in England:
    • if the address is within a district for which there is a district council, that district;
    • if the address is within a county in which there are no districts with councils, that county;
    • if the address is within a London borough, that London borough;
    • if the address is within the City of London (including the Inner and Middle Temples), the City of London; and
    • if the address is within the Isles of Scilly, the Isles of Scilly
  • For home addresses in Wales:
    • if the address is within a county, that county;
    • if the address is within a county borough, that county borough
  • For home addresses in Scotland:
    • the local government area in which the address is situated
  • For home addresses in Northern Ireland:
    • the local government district in which the address is situated
Last updated: 1 December 2023