Edinburgh Tenement Flat Numbering Explained
20th of January, 2026
If you are moving house in Edinburgh, you may come across a flat numbering system that looks strange at first. This is most common in older tenement buildings and often causes confusion for people new to the city. Here we explain what is meant by addresses such as GF2 or 3F4.
Central Edinburgh has many traditional tenement flats, a common type of apartment found across Scotland. These multi-storey stone buildings were mostly built during the Victorian and Edwardian periods (1840–1910). Several flats share a single stairwell, usually called a “stair” in Edinburgh.
Unlike modern blocks, tenement flats are not numbered in a simple sequence like 1, 2, 3. Instead, the address shows the floor level first, followed by the flat’s position on that floor.
Each block, or stair, has a street number that relates to its position along the street, for example 18 Rosebank Terrace.
Within the block, each individual flat is identified using formats such as GF1, 1F2, or 3F1. The letter “F” stands for floor: GF means ground floor, 1F is first floor, 2F is second floor, and so on.
The final number refers to the flat itself. This shows the order of the doors when you step out onto that floor. Flat 1 is the first door you reach, flat 2 the second, and so on, regardless of which direction the stair turns.
A full address might read:
GF2, 18 Rosebank Terrace - meaning the second door on the ground floor of building number 18, or
Flat 3F4, 42 Kirkhill Avenue - meaning the fourth door on the third floor of building number 42.
Common Tenement Floor Prefixes Explained
GF – Ground Floor
BF – Basement or lower ground floor (where used)
PF – Principal Floor (also commonly thought to mean pavement floor). Uncommon and most often used to describe a ground-floor flat.
1F – First Floor
2F – Second Floor
3F – Third Floor
Variations in How Tenement Addresses Are Written
While the numbering system itself is logical, tenement addresses in Edinburgh are not always written the same way. The same flat can appear in several different formats.
Capitalisation often varies, for example GF1, Gf1, or gf1. There may also be a comma, or no comma at all, between the flat number and the street address.
To make matters more complicated, when Royal Mail digitised its address database, many tenement flats were renumbered sequentially, for example 18/1 Rosebank Terrace, 18/2 Rosebank Terrace, and 18/3 Rosebank Terrace. Edinburgh Council continues to use the traditional tenement format (GF1, 1F2, and so on). So as a result, the same flat can exist under both formats at the same time.
Why This Matters When Moving Home in Edinburgh
The tenement flat numbering system can be confusing because it looks unfamiliar and is not always written consistently. In tenement buildings, the street number identifies the building, while the letters and numbers in the flat address identify the individual flat within it.
Understanding what codes like GF2 or 3F4 mean makes it easier to read addresses, recognise which floor a flat is on, and understand how tenement buildings are laid out. This context is useful when viewing properties, moving into a new home, or getting to know how Edinburgh housing works.
Once you become familiar with it, Edinburgh’s tenement flat numbering system is easier to recognise and understand, even if it can still be confusing at times. It is a small but distinctive part of the city’s built history, and reflects how Edinburgh has grown and evolved over time.
At Blackhall Moving & Storage, we deal with Edinburgh tenements every day, so this numbering system has become second nature to us.