Addressing Guidelines

Unique Property Reference Number (UPRN) 

UPRN stands for a Unique Property Reference Number, and is a unique identifier for every addressed geographic location in the UK (a building, a flat, a bus stop etc.). It works in a comparable way to a National Insurance number, or car registration plate.  UPRNs are allocated by local authorities and the Ordnance Survey (OS). Royal Mail are only responsible for allocating a postcode to the addresses created by local authorities.

In most everyday uses the UPRN address is equivalent to the address we use to receive and deliver mail, but there may be some differences which are set out below. Where there are diverse ways that an address can be described, the UPRN helps us to understand that “this is the same address.” 

Why do we use UPRNs? 

There are many benefits to RoS holding UPRN data:

• UPRN data was mandated by Government Digital Service as the public standard for referencing and sharing property and street information (https://static.geoplace.co.uk/downloads/GEO13042-GeoPlace-You-Must-Use-UPRNs-USRNs-v4.pdf)  
• A UPRN ties the extent of an addressable property to a widely recognised description
• UPRNs are a source of structured data to enable the use, re-use and sharing of data products for RoS customers 
• UPRNs link to the current Local Authority address for a property, and are a helpful tool to avoid addressing disputes
• UPRNs help with provisional ident (dropping a seed point to identify the location of a title)

Gazetteers 

Each local authority in Scotland maintains their own Local Address Gazetteer and Street Gazetteer. Local authorities have the authority and responsibility to officially name and number locations in their area. The addresses they generate are the authoritative description of the geographic location for each addressed object. The Royal Mail are responsible for assigning a postcode to this description.  

There are several gazetteers compiled from this data representing the many and varied uses of addresses and address data in Public and Private sectors.  

Public Sector organisations have access to OS (Ordnance Survey) Addressbase via the Public Sector Geospatial Agreement. These products are currently embedded within RoS systems (e.g. address browser in LRS) and should be accepted as our primary source of address data. 

Other gazetteer sources (Royal Mail, One Scotland Gazetteer etc.) should be required only in limited circumstances, e.g. to resolve a dispute, understand changes that may have happened over the lifetime of the address/property or to determine a particularly complex address.  

Property developers do not have the authority to issue addresses and must adhere to what is issued by the local custodian. Requests to amend the official address for a property must be directed to the relevant Local Authority and not the Keeper. 

Gazetteers – Address data updates 

The address data on Addressbase is updated on a six-weekly cycle. There is a large volume of information that moves between the various address custodians and updated information does not appear in all sources at the same time. Addressbase is the final stage in the address collation process, making it the most complete but also the least current. This can account for some of the minor variations in address formats and means that UPRN information may be initially unavailable for new build transactions, usually Transfer of Part (TP) applications, at the point of registration. 

Addressing – Registration guidance 

 There is not always a single, definitive address for a property, and it is possible for the same property to be described correctly using different address variations from various sources, for example: 

• The address issued by the local authority is a correct description of the geographic location of the property 

• The Royal Mail address is a correct description of how to deliver mail to the property  

• Variations in flat numbering may not be consistent or official, but they can all be correct depending on how you count as you traverse the stair 

This can cause confusion about the ‘correct’ way to narrate an address in a deed or on the title sheet, giving rise to customer enquiries and rectification requests. Customers may conflate addresses and use these in documents, e.g. by inserting a locality into a postal address where the post-town is far away from the geographic location of the property, including informal local names or sub-localities. This may be useful or meaningful to the occupiers but is not needed to accurately describe a property. Locality information is often linked to Royal Mail addressing practice which is not the standard used by RoS.  

It is important to note that most variations around locality information, flat or house number format or the omission of erroneous address detail do not make an address invalid and therefore should not be considered a manifest inaccuracy.  

Which address to use? 

Addresses form a necessary part of the A Section property description, helping to uniquely identify what is being registered, but trying to find ‘the’ definitive address is not always possible. The widely recognised format for a UK address has the following elements:  

• a house name or number (property identifier)  

• a street (thoroughfare)  

• post town and a postcode  

These are the key components that are required for a property address.

Deed/application form address data 

The deed, deed plan and application form are primary sources of address information and should be used to match to a UPRN in the address browser. It will usually be possible to fully reflect the address provided in the deed. Where there is a difference between the UPRN address and the deed or application address, before selecting the address from the browser, consider if: 

• The UPRN definitely relates to that property (the location, street number etc. shown on the map should assist with this) 

• The variation is minor, e.g. as a result of unnecessary or informal information (e.g. UPRN contains different or no locality information, or the same address details are narrated in a different order).  

• If so, then the UPRN address can be used even if it does not exactly match the description in the deed/application form – for example:  

Deed: 4 Gilberstoun, Brunstane, Edinburgh EH15 2QY 

Browser: 4 Gilberstoun, Edinburgh EH15 2QY  

Brunstane is not an essential component of the address and can be omitted even if it is narrated in the deed.  

It is possible to amend the browser entry for an address to add, change or remove a house name to reflect the information given in the deed/application form. This is the only change that can be made by settlers as part of the registration process. (See When to contact Data Improvement below) 

Deeds registered as part of a Dealing with whole (DW) must describe the subjects by reference to a title number; therefore, if there is doubt about the ‘best’ address and/or no specific request to update the address, there is no need to make any change. 

Flats 

Flats can be problematic to identify and to link to a UPRN. The Royal Mail may use a different numbering scheme than the local authority. The same flat address could therefore potentially be correctly written on deeds/applications as any of: 

• Flat 6, 10 High Street 

• 3/2, 10 High Street 

• 3F2, 10 High Street  

• 10/6 High Street  

They should all have the same UPRN, however. Alternative flat references may be contained within Addressbase data, making it easier to link variable flat descriptions, but currently these are not viewable on RoS systems. 

Additionally, it may not be possible to connect any of these addresses to a more traditional flat description such as eastmost top floor flat 10 High Street.  

If you can match your application details to a browser entry with a UPRN, then you should do so. There is some post-despatch work carried out in Quality and data improvement to match flatted properties to a UPRN using Addressbase data that is not currently available via LRS and the UPRN for a flat may be added retrospectively if it can be matched as part of this process. 

Enquiries/further information 

General enquiries about address formatting and UPRN data can be directed to Data Improvement.  

Amending a Title address and when to contact Data Improvement 

Care should always be taken when considering amending or adding an existing A section address. 

DW process: 

Title address updates as part of the DW registration process are now limited to the following scenarios: 

• New address – e.g. property registered with reference to a plot/just a piece of ground and now has a postal address.  

• A specific request for address update/flat number update is made in the additional information field on the application form, e.g. property is now known as xxx or new house name 

• Customers may also request changes to a registered address via the Title Inaccuracy Enquiries (TIE) service, providing evidence to show that the title address is inaccurate 

TP process:  

TP applications are less likely than other application types to have up to date address data available in the LRS browser. To avoid delaying the registration process Data Improvement can be contacted to resolve the issues below:  

• No Address Hit / Incorrect Address / Incorrect Postcode in Deeds or LRS  
• No Address Hit in RoS Gazetteer  
• Incorrect/incomplete Address  
• Incorrect Postcode in RoS Gazetteer  
• Incorrect Postcode in Deeds, but the Correct postcode is in the RoS Gazetteer  

Where any of the above are identified please send an email with the title number and a brief description of the issue to Dataimprovement@ros.gov.uk and add the following note to LRS:   “Address Query sent to Data Improvement.”  

The case can then progress as usual. Data Improvement will make any necessary updates using the address maintenance tool. 

There is also a post- despatch sweep of UPRN entries in completed TP and FR applications. This uses additional Addressbase data to increase the volume titles with a UPRN. 

Examples of address variations: 

These are examples of real address referrals that illustrate some of the common types of address discrepancy: