Service request

How to apply

If you are arranging a funeral through an undertaker, the undertaker will contact our office on your behalf to provide the information we require for the burial.

Some interments such as cremated remains can be arranged privately.

If you're arranging a private burial, please contact us.

Forms to complete when a burial is to take place

Contact us for guidance about which form is correct for your situation.

A burial in an existing lair must be approved by the lair holder. The lair holder has the Exclusive Right of Burial (ERoB). Relevant paperwork and a fee is required for the burial to go ahead. Your undertaker can assist with this.

You can only buy a new lair at the same time as you arrange a burial. You cannot buy a lair to use in the future.

If you're the lair holder, you need to apply to make a burial in the lair. 

Most people will arrange for an undertaker to organise all the details of a burial. 

You need to provide the lair certificate along with all applications. You can get a duplicate certificate if you cannot find your copy. It costs £33.85 to get a duplicate copy of the lair certificate. 

If the lair holder is unable to apply

If the lair holder is not able to apply, or approve, or you are applying on their behalf, other supplementary forms will be required. Your funeral director can assist you with the process.

Burial fees are: 

• coffin (Renfrewshire resident), £1056.95
• coffin (from outside of Renfrewshire), £3170.75
• cremated remains (Renfrewshire resident), £298.70
• cremated remains (from outside of Renfrewshire), £896.05.

We'll consider someone to be a Renfrewshire resident if they lived in Renfrewshire for 50 years or more, even if they have since moved out of Renfrewshire.

There are no fees for a child under 18 years of age, for either a coffin or cremated remains.

How to apply for this service

In most cases your undertaker will apply for this on your behalf.

Change of details or transfer of title deeds

You must tell us of any changes to the lair holder's name, address and contact details. 

When the lair holder dies, the lair should be transferred to maintain a point of contact for any issues which may arise regarding the lair or memorial. 

It costs £33.85 for a registration of transfer.

If you need help to apply

Contact Parks and Cemeteries:

Renewing a right to burial  

From 1 March 2026 a new right of burial will last for 25 years. Then:

• after 25 years, it may be renewed for 10 years at a time. This is likely to attract an associated fee which will be determined at the time
• there is no limit to the number of renewals, subject to our approval
• a renewal can only be completed by the current lair holder, or by a person to whom the right has been formally transferred through Renfrewshire Council’s Transfer of Burial process.

When a renewal will be refused

Renewal would only be refused in limited circumstances.

For example, if the lair holder of the right to burial has died and the right has not been transferred following the required process, the right automatically returns to us.

If the right of burial is not renewed:

• the right of burial will expire
• no further burials may take place in that lair unless Rights have been extended
• no new memorial may be installed, and no additional works may be carried out on an existing memorial without our prior consent and approval
• if the lair has not been used, we may sell it again.

Reminder before the right ends

We'll contact the lair holder at least 3 months before the right is due to expire. It's important that contact details are kept up to date. We'll tell you:

• when the right of burial expires
• how to renew it
• what happens if you choose not to renew.

What the Exclusive Right of Burial (ERoB) is

Purchasing the Exclusive Right of Burial (ERoB) gives you the right to bury human remains within a lair. Also known as the Lair Right Holder, it is your responsibility to keep the contact details we hold for the lair holder up to date. 

What a lair is

A lair is a Scottish term for a burial plot in a cemetery. A lair can have more than one burial cremated remains. These are known as interments. 

Being the lair holder and having the Right of Burial does not mean that you own this land. The cemetery grounds are owned by the Council.

The lair holder will also need to approve a burial within their lair. 

They'll also need to use a stonemason who is on our Registration Scheme for Memorial Masons to erect any headstones or memorials. Find out about our headstones safety inspections. 

A lair holder can pass on ownership of the lair to an heir or a person they choose as the owner.

Lairs bought after 1 March 2026 come with a 25 year right of burial.

What you can use it for

We cannot guarantee the number of interments possible in any lair. Often, a lair can have a maximum of 3 coffin interments and 6 cremated remains. However, this is subject to ground conditions, coffin dimensions and any other associated factors.  

You need to apply for each interment you want to make on your lair. 

You can place one floral container (this cannot be made of glass or ceramic), or a plaque or tablet, at the head of the lair or immediately in front of the memorial headstone. 

What you cannot use it for

We need access for grounds maintenance, for future interments, and to install and maintain headstones. To allow access to the lair, you: 

• cannot plant any tree, shrub or plant
• cannot install fencing, kerbing, gravel, or lighting
• cannot lay kerbs, artificial wreaths, pall stones, globes.

Where contact details are available we'll contact you asking you to remove any of these items.

Excessive memorabilia can also affect grounds maintenance, lead to complaints from other lair holders, and are at risk of being stolen or damaged.

It costs £1157.10 for a lair, if you are a Renfrewshire resident and have lived in Renfrewshire for 50 years or more. 

It costs £3471.20 for a lair, if you are a resident from outside Renfrewshire and have lived here for less than 50 years. 

There is no charge if the lair is for a child under 18 years old. There are also no charges for their interment (their burial) or for headstone permits and foundations. 

More than one individual can be registered as a lair holder, except in the case of a trustee. In the case where there are multiple individuals on the register, consent must be agreed by all parties to exercise the ERoB in respect of the lair to which it relates. This also applies to rights of ownership of a memorial at the lair and responsibilities relating to this. 

You cannot pre-purchase a lair or pick its location. To protect capacity across our cemeteries, we do not offer pre-purchase of lairs. We will select the location of a lair. Any specific requests can be considered but not guaranteed.

If you want to find out where someone is buried so that you can visit the lair, you'll need to give us time to search the records. We suggest you allow at least 10 working days for us to locate the lair.

Anyone can ask for the location of a lair.

It can take up to 10 working days if the search is difficult or you've asked for the details for many burials.

Depending on the accuracy of the information you provide, we may not charge you for a search. 

However, if you give us very little information to search with, or have multiple or extensive requests, we may ask you to pay for our time.

We'll let you know if you need to pay for your search.  

Each search costs £45.90 (excluding VAT). 

If we are charging you for the search, you'll need to pay before we start the search. We'll email you details of how to pay, or take a payment on the phone. 

It can take up to 10 working days if the search is difficult or you've asked for the details for many burials.

There are 3 steps to help resolve issues with your address not being recognised.

1. If you’re having problems choosing your address for deliveries or with utilities providers, tell us by email addressenquiries@renfrewshire.gov.uk. We'll attempt to resolve the problem and tell delivery and utility companies.
2. Apply to have your address formally confirmed by us so that other organisations can recognise it.
3. Request that your property has its address changed, such as the addition or change of a name.

You need to be the resident at the address having the issues.

You can apply to have your address formally confirmed by us so that other organisations can recognise it.

You can request that your property has its address changed, such as the addition or change of a name.

What you cannot use it for

This service is for an existing property only.

If your property is being created from a new-build, merger or sub-division, and requires an official address, see [ request street naming and numbering for new developments. ]

Step 1: problem with your address

If you're having problems choosing your address for deliveries or with utilities providers, we'll attempt to resolve the problem and tell delivery and utility companies.

Tell us by email addressenquiries@renfrewshire.gov.uk   

Step 2: official confirmation of your existing property's address

You can apply to have your address formally confirmed by us so that other organisations can recognise it.

It costs £84 to confirm an address.

Apply online:

Confirmation of existing property address 

Step 3: request an address change

You can request that your property has its address changed, such as the addition or change of a name.

It costs £84 to change a property name or number.

Apply online:

Change of property name or number

After you've submitted your request for an official confirmation of your existing property's address, we'll contact you with details of how to make a payment and what we'll do next.

After you've submitted your request for a change of property name or number, we'll contact you with details of how to make a payment if you did not do this during your application.

We aim to acknowledge an application or request within 5 working days. Completion of the service will vary depending on the type of query or request, but in all circumstances we'll try to resolve it as soon as possible.

All changes to property numbers or names and to street names will follow the Street Naming and Numbering Protocol.

We'll only change street names or numbers where there is a clear and unavoidable need to resolve confusion or an error.

There’s no cost for the first step where we attempt to resolve issues you have in selecting your address for deliveries and with utilities providers.

It costs £84 to have your address formally confirmed by us.

It costs £84 to change a property name or number.

As a developer you need to make an application to have new street names or property numbers allocated when work starts on site.

You need to be the developer or agent working on behalf of the developer.

If you’re creating property as a new-build, merger or sub-division you’ll need to request an official address so that the property is recognised by emergency services, public utility companies and Royal Mail.

What you cannot use it for

This service is for new developments only. If you’re having problems with an existing address, find out how to make an enquiry about your address or request an address change.

You'll need to provide:

• approved planning and building warrant permissions
• plans showing the layout of the development.

The plans that you upload should:

• be in electronic format, preferably PDF files
• clearly identify all new streets and properties being created
• be for each floor with new properties, so that for flats or sub-divided properties you can get a separate address for each unit.

You can also include suggestions for street names.

Apply for street naming and numbering  

We aim to acknowledge an application or request within 5 working days. Completion of the service will vary depending on the type of query or request, but in all circumstances, we'll try to resolve it as soon as possible.

If you do not make a payment when you completed the form you need to make the payment before we allocate new addresses.

Once all new addresses have been allocated and approved, we'll send details to people and organisations who need to keep up-to-date records, such as the emergency services, public utility companies and Royal Mail.

All street names and property numbers will follow the Street Naming and Numbering Protocol.

It costs £199.50 for each new street name.

The cost for each new property depends on how many properties you are building.

Related services

See also:

• register a death
• death and bereavement support.

You can use the Tell Us Once service to let the council and government organisations know that a person has died. They’ll tell the relevant departments and services about the death, and the services that person was receiving will be stopped.

This means that you do not have to contact each organisation and department separately. The Tell Us Once service does that for you.

When someone has died, there are lots of things that need to be done, at a time when you probably least feel like doing them.

One of these is contacting the government departments and local council services that need to be told.

When you register the death the Registrar will give you a unique reference number so you can use the Tell Us Once service.

You’ll need the Tell Us Once reference number that you got from the registrar.

You’ll also need the following details of the person who died:

• surname
• date they died
• name, address and contact details of the person or company dealing with their estate (property, belongings and money), known as their ‘executor’ or ‘administrator’
• if there’s a surviving spouse or civil partner, the name, address, telephone number and the National Insurance number or date of birth of the spouse or civil partner
• if there’s no surviving spouse or civil partner or their spouse or civil partner is not able to deal with their affairs, the name and address of their next of kin
• if they died in a hospital, nursing home, care home or hospice, the name and address of that institution.

Read the full list of what you’ll need to provide on Tell Us Once (GOV.UK).

Tell Us Once (GOV.UK)

We’ll tell the following council services about the death:

• Housing Benefit
• council tax  
• collection of payment for council services
• libraries
• electoral services
• Blue Badges
• adult services
• children's services
• council housing
• concessionary travel
• other service areas of the council that may need to update their records.

You can read the full list of the government departments that will be told about the death on Tell Us Once (GOV.UK).

Our transfer process is quick and easy. Contact us to start the process.

Reasons to transfer to us

You can:

• keep Renfrewshire children living in the area
• foster children from a wide range of ages, from 0 to 21
• giving back to your local community.

You could get up to £31,990.92 a year for each child that you foster.

This is from:

• a weekly fostering payment or £330.46 per child
• an allowance of up to £284.75 per week per child to cover food, clothing, schooling, and other costs..

We provide:

• support and training before and during fostering
• dedicated social worker always on hand
• access to Renfrewshire’s local carer support group.

See support and training for foster carers.

See allowances and payments for foster carers.

To talk to us about transferring from a fostering agency to Renfrewshire Council use our contact form.

Contact us about fostering

To talk to us about transferring from a fostering agency to Renfrewshire Council, you can phone 0300 300 1199.

Anyone has the potential to become a foster carer. If you’re enthusiastic about looking after children and want to play your part in putting them on the road to success, you might have what it takes.

People of all backgrounds can register their interest in fostering and support the wide range of children living in Renfrewshire.

Basic requirements to foster

To register your interest, you must:

• be over 21
• have a spare bedroom
• be currently in good health.

You can:

• be employed, self-employed, or unemployed
• be married or living together in a committed and enduring relationship
• be single (any gender)
• have any sexual orientation
• have your own children or no children
• own or rent the property you live in
• be of any religious background or none.

In return for your commitment, we offer:

• dedicated support from professional social workers
• comprehensive training
• access to local foster carer network and monthly support group
• payments of up to £581.92 per week, per child. 

Find out more about becoming a foster carer and giving children the chance of a positive, brighter future.

You can ask for a:

• chat with a foster carer
• fostering information pack to be emailed to you
• chat with the fostering team.

To talk to us about fostering use our online form.

Contact us about fostering

To talk to us about fostering on the phone on 0300 300 1199.

To talk to us about fostering and adoption:

• phone 0300 300 1199
• email childrenandfamilies@renfrewshire.gov.uk

Register for e-billing if you’d like to get your council tax bill by email instead of getting a paper bill in the post.

Before you register for e-billing for council tax, make sure you have your council tax reference number (find it at the top of your most recent bill).

If you have any questions before you register, contact us online.

Register for e-billing for council tax

We’ll contact you by email or text, depending on the information you gave us when registering, to let you know once we’ve switched you to e-billing for council tax.

We’ll aim to contact you within 10 days.

After that, you’ll start getting your council tax bills by email.
 

Once you subscribe using your email address, we’ll send you an email reminder the day before each of your bin collection days.

Right now, you can subscribe to reminders for only 1 address at a time. You'll be able to subscribe to reminders for multiple addresses later in 2026.

If you live in Renfrewshire, you can subscribe to our bin collection email reminders.

These email reminders are for homes where you put your own bins out, including if someone helps you do this. They’re not for flats with shared bins or businesses.

You can subscribe to bin collection email reminders on our website.

1. Select the button below to view our bin collection day page.
2. Search for your postcode.
3. Select your address from the list.
4. In the section called ‘Get bin collection email reminders’, enter your email address to subscribe to reminders for that collection address.

Subscribe to bin collection email reminders
 

Once you subscribe using your email address, we’ll send you an email reminder the day before each of your bin collection days.

If you’re not getting the reminders in your inbox, they could be in your spam folder.

You can unsubscribe from the email reminders on our website:

Unsubscribe from bin collection email reminders