A formal letter in the UK puts your address at the top right, the date under it, and the address of the person you are writing to on the left, a little lower down. It opens with "Dear" and the person's name, and closes with "Yours sincerely" if you used their name, or "Yours faithfully" if you began "Dear Sir or Madam".
That is most of it. This guide shows the whole layout, the rules that people most often get wrong, and how to make a letter that lays itself out.
The layout
14 Mill Lane
Anytown
AB1 2CD
11 October 2026
Ms A Patel
Head of Planning
Anytown Council
Town Hall
Anytown
AB1 9ZZ
Dear Ms Patel
Planning application 26/0412: 3 Mill Lane
I am writing to object to the planning application above, which
would ...
Yours sincerely
(your signature)
Jo Bloggs
Your address
Your address goes at the top right, a line for each part, with the postcode on a line of its own. Leave your name off: it goes at the end, under your signature. Add a phone number or an email address under the address if you would like a reply that way.
On headed paper, the heading takes the place of your address.
The date
Put the date under your address, written in full: 11 October 2026. Leave out "th" and "st", and the commas. A date in figures, such as 11/10/2026, means different days in different countries, so it is best kept out of letters.
Their name and address
The name and address of the person you are writing to go on the left, starting a line or two below the date. Use their title, name and job title if you know them, then the organisation and its address.
In British English, Mr, Mrs, Ms and Dr have no full stop, because the last letter of the short form is the last letter of the word. Use Ms for a woman unless you know she prefers another title.
Dear, and yours
| You begin | You end |
|---|---|
| Dear Ms Patel, or any other name | Yours sincerely |
| Dear Sir or Madam | Yours faithfully |
| Dear Jo, to someone you know | Kind regards, or Best wishes |
The rule is simple to remember: sincerely goes with a surname, faithfully with a stranger. Only the first word has a capital, so Yours sincerely, never Yours Sincerely. If you know the job but not the name, "Dear Head of Planning" is better than "Dear Sir or Madam", and it takes Yours sincerely.
Most letters in the UK now leave out the commas after "Dear Ms Patel" and "Yours sincerely", and leave the address lines without punctuation. Both styles are correct, as long as the letter keeps to one.
A subject line
A short line after "Dear", saying what the letter is about, helps the reader and the person who files it. Make it bold, and include any reference number they gave you: an account number, a planning reference or a claim number.
The letter itself
- The first paragraph says why you are writing, in a sentence or two.
- The middle gives the facts the reader needs, in order, a paragraph for each point.
- The last paragraph says what you would like to happen next, and by when.
Keep it short and plain. A one-page letter is read. A four-page letter is skimmed.
The end
Leave four or five lines after "Yours sincerely" for your signature, then type your name. Add your job title under it if you write for an organisation. If you are sending other papers with the letter, add "Enc." at the foot, or list them: "Enclosed: a copy of the bill".
Block style
Many businesses now put everything on the left: your address, the date, their address and the closing, one under another. It is quicker to lay out and is just as correct. The layout above, with your address on the right, is still the more usual for a personal letter.
Writing a letter in Retroprose
Retroprose has a Letter template that lays the letter out for you, in a Word file or a PDF, so you only write the words.
- Set your details once. On the Exports part of your account page, enter your name, your address and your usual sign-off, such as Yours sincerely. Every letter then has them.
- Write the letter. Start with "Dear", then the subject line in bold (F6), then the letter. Leave out the addresses, the date and the closing: the template adds them.
- Add their address. Choose File, Properties (Ctrl+F9), then the Templates tab, and type their address in To. A different address or sign-off for this one letter goes there too, in From and Sign-off.
- Export it. Press Ctrl+E, then 1 for Word or 2 for PDF, and L for Letter. Press Enter.
The template puts your address and the date at the top right, their address on the left, and your sign-off, space to sign and your name after the text. With no date set, it uses the date of the export, written in full. To check it first, Print preview (Shift+F7) shows the page.
Spell check is in British English, so the letter goes out with British spellings, and Shift+F5 types today's date in full wherever you need it in the text. All of this is free, on every edition.