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Over 32 million addresses at your fingertips

The data

You may not know that local authorities have a legal responsibility to name and number all streets and properties, making them the source of all land and property information in England and Wales.

For the past eight years local authorities have been using their Local Land and Property Gazetteers (LLPG) to help improve council services. These gazetteers are maintained by local custodians as part of council planning and building processes. As a result, the land and property information in LLPGs is always current and accurate, through local knowledge and the need for authorities themselves to use their LLPG.

Elements of the data

The National Land and Property Gazetteer (NLPG) is the real-time collation of all 376 local authorities' LLPGs across England and Wales. It contains more than 32 million residential, business and non-mailing addresses, as well as alternative addresses and aliases, such as "Rose Cottage, Off Old Town Way".

Each property within the NLPG has it own Unique Property Reference Number (UPRN), such that alternative addresses and aliases will be given the same UPRN as the officially recognised address. This UPRN also stays with the property even after it is demolished and will not be reallocated; thereby ensuring complete data integrity of these addresses.

The benefits

In addition to providing grid coordinates and detailed property classifications for each address in the NLPG, multiple occupancy information is also included. Organisations within the utility industry, for example, will be able to use this information for more accurate planning of supply networks and connections. Likewise, insurance companies may want to access real-time information about Victorian houses that have been split into flats. It can also bring back the location of non-addressable objects such as bill boards and bus shelters.

Below is a sample of the classifications used within the NLPG:

Summary

Experian QAS has already been working with a number of local authorities, helping them make the most of this data by implementing the use of the UPRN. It's enabling more effective strategic planning and streamlined response to customers and joining up services and information. It's linking front and back office functions to improve efficiency and service delivery.

Our customers are now able to see benefit from the time and money invested in using the NLPG, verifying citizen data as they capture it, and intelligently searching across accurate and current property information for more streamlined allocation of limited resources.