WHERE would we be without the humble postcode? Satnav may one day take over from this collection of letters and numbers which began their history an astonishing 155 years ago but for now the postcode is king. Using a town and postcode on an envelope means you no longer need to include the county name – and since the postcode limits the address to about 15 houses if you get the house number wrong there’s still a good chance it will reach its destination.

But the postcode has been adopted by many organisations to help searching. And it’s proving a boon to those looking to move or buy a new house. Property search engines such as the Independent Property Search enable you to search by postcode for that new home but you can use the postcode to prepare for the move as well.

Looking for a new job once you’ve moved house? Then access the Jobcentre Plus database using your preferred job title and postcode. You can nominate your search to within a few miles of your potential home or widen the search further if required.

Or tying to find the right school for your children? Then head over to Schoolsfinder and tap in your postcode. You’ll be presented with a list of schools and a map showing their location. You’ll also see at a glance whether it has a nursery, sixth form provision, special needs provision and so forth. Click on the name of a school and you are given a profile of the school and a link to its latest Ofsted report. Nor does the postcode fun end there. Continued ....

Postcodes can help you find your new home.