UPRN Number Lookup
A Unique Property Reference Number (UPRN) offers a single identifier for all UK addressable locations. Data8’s UPRN Number Lookup can be added to our address validation solutions for a more accurate depiction.
A UPRN is like a car registration plate or an individual’s national insurance number. According to the Ordnance Survey, an addressable location can be any kind of building, or an object with a normal address – for example a bus shelter, post box, or electricity substation.
A UPRN can be up to 12 digits long, allocated to properties and objects at the earliest possible stage either as soon as construction starts, or street naming and numbering has been carried out. UPRNs are assigned by local authorities and the Ordnance Survey (OS) with guidance from GeoPlace. Local authorities have permissions to name and number every street in Great Britain, whilst the OS identifies features in landscape that might not have a ‘normal’ address.
The allocated UPRN remains the same for an addressable location and is never changed or reused. It follows the lifecycle of that location, up to and including the demolition of said address. Even if a property is changed or removed, the original UPRN information is archived. This makes it a lot easier to manage and understand the address data, whilst also referring to historic UPRN records.
As UPRNs are a completely unique code provided by trusted local experts, it becomes the single reference point for deduplication even if there are other problems with the data. Alternatively, when businesses add the UPRN to any kind of data, a link between matching records can be created within different databases as well. Meaning fewer mistakes when exchanging data and communicating.
How can UPRN Number Lookup Support You?
Improve Address Accuracy
By verifying addresses through UPRNs, businesses can ensure their data matches the official standards used by governments and local councils, reducing inconsistencies and minimizing potential delivery errors.
Efficient Delivery Management
UPRNs allow logistics teams to optimize delivery routes and avoid time lost due to inaccurate addresses. This is particularly valuable for delivery services, e-commerce businesses, and logistics companies.
Enhanced Customer Experience
For businesses offering services at customer locations, such as maintenance, cleaning, or healthcare, UPRN lookup ensures accurate addresses, reducing the risk of missed or delayed appointments.
Fraud
Prevention
UPRN lookup helps confirm that a customer's provided address is valid and matches the correct property, which is beneficial for businesses like banking and insurance to mitigate risks associated with false identities.
How Does UPRN Work With Royal Mail’s Postcode Address File (PAF)?
UPRN data is obtained from Ordnance Survey’s (OS) AddressBase service, which receives its data from local authorities. AddressBase then matches 30 million Royal Mail postal addresses to unique property reference numbers (UPRN), bringing a geographical dimension to the matched records. This collaboration is how UPRN identifies properties with such precision; using the X and Y coordinates they assigned to the Royal Mail PAF data. These datasets are maintained and kept up to date with PAF daily and OS’ AddressBase every 6 weeks.
For more information on how we work with Royal Mail’s PAF Service or AddressBase, read our comprehensive data sources.
UPRN & Address Validation Integrations
Data8’s UPRN service can be added to our PredictiveAddress or Postcode Lookup solutions as an additional reference for a more accurate depiction of property-related information. By incorporating UPRN into database records, it can significantly improve data accuracy, operational efficiency, compliance, and customer experience. Our PredictiveAddress Software is available across a wide range of platforms, check out the ever growing list of native integrations:
Don’t see your platform in the featured list above? Check out our full list of available integrations
Want to try our UPRN Number Lookup?
If you already have our Address Validation services you can ask your account manager to add the UPRN option to your service. If you don’t, speak to our experts to get Address Validation & UPRN set up today. All services are subscription-free with no setup fees, and no credit card is required to get started with testing our services.
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