OS Match & Cleanse API

The OS Match & Cleanse API will become End of Life on 31 March 2026 and withdrawn. After this date, the API will be removed from all existing API projects and will no longer be accessible. For further information, please visit End of Life Information.

The OS Match & Cleanse API provides a detailed view of an address and its lifecycle. It contains all the records of AddressBase Premium and AddressBase Premium – Islands and so provides all the information relating to an address or property from creation to retirement.

It contains local authority, Ordnance Survey and Royal Mail addresses, current addresses, multilingual and alternatives for current addresses, provisional addresses (such as planning developments) and historic information, plus cross references to the OS MasterMap Topographic Identifiers (TOIDs) and Unique Property Reference Numbers (UPRNs).

OS Match & Cleanse API contains addresses located within the United Kingdom, Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. For address records in Jersey and Guernsey, the coordinates will be ‘0.0’ as they fall outside of the British National Grid.

Each address returned is given a match score so you can be confident of the matched address based on its likeness to the input text string. Scores are provided from 0 to 1.0, where 1.0 represents an EXACT match. You can control the precision of the match score in the event of results sharing a close match score.

Things to remember for OS Match & Cleanse API

You can:

• Match specific addresses accurately.

• Cleanse partial or incorrect addresses.

• Obtain the UPRN for matched addresses.

• Search both Royal Mail and Local Authority address datasets.

• Geocode addresses (add the location element).

• Match addresses in the United Kingdom, Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey.

You can't:

• Locate general areas such as cities, forests or beaches.

• Carry out bulk matching (transactions are subject to API throttling).

• Access the OS Match & Cleanse API under the Public Sector Geospatial Agreement (PSGA) on the Public Sector Plan.