Does Anyone Know Who Lives Here?

To determine who lives at a given address, the occupant must be registered to vote. There are several ways to find out, but keep in mind that a fee may be required to gain access to this information.

If you want to ensure that you have complete access to all relevant information, your first stop should be your local library. Copies of everyone in the area who is currently registered to vote, including their postal address, are available here.  

It is important to note that there may be a fee involved, and you will almost certainly need to schedule an appointment, so you should contact the library ahead of time. While this may seem inconvenient, it is far preferable to using an online service because people can choose not to be listed in online directories. This means that, despite having paid a fee, you may be unable to locate the address or person you are looking for.  

The Telephone Directory

Remember the BT Phonebook? It was a staple in almost every UK household for the past fifteen years or so. They'd be delivered to your door on a regular basis, for free, with up-to-date information on names, addresses, and phone numbers. Of course, people can choose to be 'ex-directory,' which means they will not be listed, but the majority of people will have their information printed.  

Many people believe that because The Phonebook is no longer distributed, it simply does not exist. However, that is an incorrect assumption. The Phonebook, like everything else, has gone digital, so it's worth a look. However, this method involves searching for a name, which will then give you an address, so it's a backward option that won't help you if you only have address information.  

For those in the United States, there is a similar service called [[411]]com that offers a reverse address lookup and can be useful when looking for addresses in North America.  

One of the simplest and most reliable ways to find out who lives at an address is to use the electoral roll. The person has to be registered to vote and it would be extremely uncommon to find a regular UK resident that isn’t since it is a legal requirement to sign up to vote in the United Kingdom when you are requested to

Full electoral roll details are available through the British Library, but these records are typically more than ten years old and may not contain the most up-to-date information.  

When you conduct an online electoral roll search, you will be given information on not only the address but also all of the occupants who lived there in a specific year. The great thing about this is that it gives you a good idea of who may still be living there.  

You could also look at UK Census records, but the ones that are publicly available are extremely outdated because it is only legal to release this type of information 100 years after it was published.  

However, the most recent censuses are held by the Office of National Statistics, and for a fee, you can request data from censuses as recent as ten years ago. The most recent census results have produced some very interesting statistics, which can be found here. read here

Making Use of the Internet

Finding someone online can take a significant amount of time and effort, but there are numerous resources available. Many of these cost money, while others are free. Of course, those that charge a fee usually provide you with much easier access to what you are looking for.  

Websites such as UK Trace provide a service that allows you to find out who lives at a given address. There is a £99 fee, but if they are unable to provide you with the information you have requested within 24 hours, you will receive a full refund, so you won't be left empty-handed and out of pocket.  

If you don't want to part with any money, you can always use Google. When used correctly, this is an invaluable search tool. You may have your work cut out for you because a single search term can produce thousands of results, many of which are irrelevant. However, by using specific search terms, you can greatly narrow it down and possibly find what you're looking for.  

The best way to do this is to look up the address as well as any related names. If you enter a name and an address in quotation marks, you should get the most relevant search results.  

Facebook is another great free resource. This social media platform has reunited a staggering number of people with friends and family members they never expected to see again. Using the website's simple search functions, you may be able to locate a person with very little information. Again, doing it this way may require a little more effort. We came across this fantastic article on techadvisor for some methods of searching  

It is possible to discover who lives at a particular address in the United Kingdom, as well as other information. However, depending on how you approach this, you may discover that there are fees involved, or you may have to spend a significant amount of time and effort conducting an online search.  

The best option is to visit your local library, where you can obtain the most current and relevant information for a fee. The person you're looking for must be on the electoral roll, which is highly unlikely due to legal requirements.  

Search engines like Google and social media apps like Facebook offer free ways to find people and addresses. While there is a lot of information in these, you often have to sift through irrelevant information to find what you're looking for.