Clear Homes, Safer Streets
The Property Wayfinding Kit (PWK) Project
Clear Homes – Safer Streets Initiative
Every day, delivery drivers, visitors, and even emergency services spend valuable time searching for properties that are difficult to identify from the street. House numbers are often small, poorly positioned, hidden behind parked vehicles, or not visible from a distance.
The Property Wayfinding Kit (PWK) has been developed to address this common problem with a simple and affordable system that improves property visibility and street navigation.
Our aim is to gradually introduce the PWK system across the North East of England, helping homes and businesses become easier to find while supporting more efficient deliveries and reducing unnecessary driving.
What is the PWK System?
The Property Wayfinding Kit (PWK) is a simple visual identification system designed to make homes and businesses easier to locate from the street.
Each PWK includes clearly printed address stickers and directional indicators that help drivers quickly understand where a property is located and in which direction house numbers increase.
The system can be installed on:
Doors
Windows
Projecting address plates
Shop fronts
Because the stickers are placed in highly visible positions, drivers can identify properties from a greater distance.
How the PWK System Works
The PWK system combines clear address information with directional guidance.
Each display typically includes:
House number
Street name
Directional arrow indicator
The arrow shows the direction in which house numbers increase along the street.
Once a driver recognises a PWK marker on a street, they can quickly understand the numbering direction and estimate where nearby properties are located.
This allows drivers to locate neighbouring houses much faster, even if those homes do not yet have a PWK installed.
Creating Local Wayfinding Reference Points
To help the system work effectively, the project will distribute 50 free PWK kits to selected homes across different streets in the North East.
These homes will act as visible wayfinding reference points for delivery drivers and visitors.
When drivers see a PWK marker on a street, they can quickly understand the numbering direction and layout of nearby properties, making it easier to locate adjacent houses.
These free kits will be offered to the first residents who order when the project launches, and additional free kits will be provided after every 1,000 PWK kits sold, helping the network grow steadily across the region.
Supporting Faster and More Efficient Deliveries
Delivery drivers often spend time driving slowly along streets searching for house numbers.
By improving property visibility, the PWK system can help:
Reduce time spent searching for addresses
Improve delivery efficiency
Increase the number of deliveries completed per shift
Support higher productivity and better earnings for delivery drivers
For takeaway businesses and local shops, this also means faster service and improved customer experience.
Reducing Fuel Consumption and Carbon Emissions
When drivers spend less time searching for addresses, they drive fewer unnecessary miles.
This helps reduce:
Fuel consumption
Traffic congestion
Carbon emissions
Small improvements in navigation efficiency across thousands of daily deliveries can create meaningful environmental benefits.
By improving address visibility and reducing wasted driving time, the PWK system supports the UK’s broader ambition to reduce emissions and work towards net-zero carbon targets by 2030 and beyond.
A Community-Led Approach
The PWK project is part of the Clear Homes – Safer Streets initiative, developed by the People & Environment Academy.
The project encourages communities to work together to improve:
Property visibility
Street navigation
Delivery efficiency
Environmental sustainability
By installing simple, visible wayfinding markers, residents and businesses can help create streets that are easier to navigate for everyone.
Looking Ahead
This project begins in the North East of England, but the long-term vision is to expand the PWK system more widely.
As more homes and businesses adopt the system, streets will become clearer, safer, and easier to navigate for drivers, visitors, and emergency services alike.
Together we can create clearer homes, safer streets, and more efficient communitie