Here you will find shared documentation for products within the AddressBase family of products.
The following AddressBase Fundamentals pages provide an overview of the 'family' of AddressBase products. They cover key elements of design for AddressBase products, including data formats, classification scheme, product supply, coordinate reference systems, currency, precision, and data sources, amongst other topics.
These pages should be used in conjunction with the detailed technical specifications for each product (which can be found under the top-level product page for each individual product from the left-hand-side menu).
Release Notes
Release notes listed here provide information about the current release of the AddressBase 'family' of products and the previous nine releases.
The 'AddressBase Products' release notes include information on the AddressBase, AddressBase Plus and AddressBase Premium products.
The 'AddressBase Islands' release notes include information on the AddressBase Plus Islands and AddressBase Premium Islands products.
Addresses and Names Portfolio
This page provides an overview of the OS downloadable products in the Addresses and Names Portfolio.
Addresses and names products
This portfolio provides authoritative and accurate address data for Great Britain and lists of named features and places as identifiers for real-world locations. Access a comprehensive register of all property addresses (including their UPRNs, locations, function and key characteristics), geographic place names and a gazetteer designed for Emergency Services.
Addresses and names products support everything from property, logistics and planning to public service delivery and geocoding.
The following downloadable products are available within the Addresses and Names Portfolio:
A critical step in the creation of an address is undertaken within each Local Authority by the dedicated Street Name and Numbering (SNN) custodian and the Scottish Local Street Gazetteer (LSG) custodians, who allocates the official street name and building information.
The SNN/LSG custodian has a statutory obligation to provide SNN/LSG information for all addresses within their administrative area. Once the SNN/LSG custodian has fulfilled their statutory obligation for initial capture, the LLPG/OSG custodian will maintain the address for the life of the address record.
The official street name and building information for new properties captured by the SNN/LSG custodians is provided to Royal Mail who then allocate a postcode to the address.
Code lists and enumerations
A code list is a controlled set of allowable labels or codes represented as an alphanumeric attribute. The sub-pages in this section show the code lists used within the AddressBase 'family' of products. Some of the code lists apply to attributes of multiple feature types, whereas others will only apply to attributes of one feature type.
Unique Property Reference Number (UPRN)
The Unique Property Reference Number (UPRN) is the persistent identifier providing consistency across the AddressBase products range.
Each address record has a UPRN, which provides a reference key to join related address records across different datasets.
Throughout its lifecycle, information on the address of a property can change. This may be due to a change of name, change of use, or the eventual demolition of the property. All these changes are reflected against the same UPRN, meaning that users are aware that it is the same physical property.
The UPRN acts as the primary key of the AddressBase Core product.
OS Download Products' Documentation
Explore documentation and guides for OS Premium and OpenData Download products, such as AddressBase Premium, OS MasterMap Topography Layer, Boundary-Line and OS Open Zoomstack.
On the left-hand-side menu, we've grouped documentation first by portfolio, then alphabetically by product. Under each product's landing page, you'll usually find the following product-specific documents:
Release Notes (available for most products)
An Overview
A Getting Started Guide (available for most products)
A Technical Specification
Downloads (contains any additional files to download for a product, such as classification schemes and CSV header files, and links to product stylesheets and XML schemas held on other OS sites, if available for a product)
Known Data Issues
Download data product portfolios
The Download data products are grouped by portfolio:
Types of Download data products
There are two types of Download data product: OS Premium and OS OpenData:
When we refer to Premium products we mean paid-for datasets – whether they’re paid for by businesses, purchased through an , or accessed free at the point of use under the .
The OS Premium Download data products are available to download in a range of formats, with a variety of ordering options, through the on our .
Our Premium Download data products work in a range of software, including ESRI ArcGIS, QGIS, Mapbox, Cadcorp SIS, MapInfo, Tableau, Kepler.gl and many more.
OS OpenData Download products are free to use by anyone for any purpose – including for services from which you make a profit.
The OS OpenData Download products are available to download in a variety of formats, with a variety of ordering options, through the .
Additional OS product resources
The following pages may be of interest:
Unique Property Reference Number (UPRN)
The Unique Property Reference Number (UPRN) is the persistent identifier providing consistency across the AddressBase products range.
Each address record has a UPRN, which provides a reference key to join related address records across different datasets.
Throughout its lifecycle, information on the address of a property can change. This may be due to a change of name, change of use, or the eventual demolition of the property. All these changes are reflected against the same UPRN, meaning that users are aware that it is the same physical property.
Please be aware that the UPRN is not the Primary Key for all tables within the and
Coordinate reference systems
AddressBase products have two coordinate reference systems (CRS) present within the data:
British National Grid (BNG):BNG uses the OSGB36 geodetic datum and a single Transverse Mercator projection for the whole of Great Britain. Positions on this projection are described using Easting and Northing coordinates in units of metres. The BNG is a horizontal spatial reference system only; it does not specify a vertical (height) reference system.
European Terrestrial Reference System 89 (ETRS89):ETRS89 is the EU-recommended frame of reference for European data and is represented as Latitude and Longitude values. ETRS89 is a horizontal spatial reference system only; it does not specify a vertical (height) reference system.
Currency, completeness and precision
Currency
Updates are continuously made to the central spatial address data hub, which is managed by GeoPlace. These are used to produce the AddressBase Core product, which is supplied on a weekly basis. An extract is taken for the creation of AddressBase, AddressBase Plus and AddressBase Premium on a 6-weekly basis.
AddressbasePostalCode
This code list is used in association with the attribute addressbasePostalCode/ADDRESSBASE_POSTAL_CODEfound on the BLPU table. The code list describes the record as postal or not as defined by Addressbase logic.
Value
Description
BLPUStateCode
This enumeration is used in association with the attribute blpuState/BLPU_STATE. This enumeration describes the physical nature of the address record.
Value
Description
ChangeTypeCode
This enumeration is used in association with the attribute ChangeType/CHANGE_TYPE. This enumeration identifies the type of change that has been made to a feature.
Value
Description
FileTypeCode
This enumeration is used in association with the attribute fileType/FILE_TYPEfound in the Header record. This enumeration allows the identification of either a change-only update (COU) supply or a full supply.
Value
Description
Date
There are many Datecolumns within the AddressBase product. Where a type format of Datehas been used in the above attribute tables, the data will be defined in the following format.
Value
Type
Notes
LanguageCode
This enumeration is used in association with the LANGUAGE attribute found in the Street Descriptor and LPI tables; and also the Metadata table for CSV supply. This enumeration identifies the language of the address displayed.
This is not required for the GML supply as the Language is specified in the GML tag ‘xml:lang’.
Value
Description
LogicalStatusCode
This enumeration is used in association with the logicalStatus/LOGICAL_STATUS attribute found in the BLPU and LPI table. This enumeration provides a value to show the lifecycle stage of the address record.
Value
Description
OfficialFlagCode
This enumeration is used in association with the officialFlag/OFFICIAL_FLAG attribute. This enumeration is an indicator of whether an address record corresponds to an entry in the official Street Name and Numbering register.
Value
Description
PostcodeTypeCode
This enumeration is used in association with the postcodeType/POSTCODE_TYPEattribute. This enumeration identifies the code used by Royal Mail to describe the user as a small or large user. This is defined for postal services based on the number of letters delivered to that user.
Value
Description
StateCode
This enumeration is used in association with the stateCode/STATE_CODEattribute. This enumeration describes the physical nature of the address record.
Value
Description
StreetRecordTypeCode
This enumeration is used in association with the recordType/RECORD_TYPEattribute found in the Street table. This enumeration identifies the record type of the street record.
Value
Description
StreetStateCode
This enumeration is used in association with the state/STATEattribute found in the street table. This enumeration identifies at which point the street record is within its lifecycle.
Value
Description
StreetSurfaceCode
This enumeration is used in association with the streetSurface/STREET_SURFACEattribute found in the Street table. This enumeration identifies the surface finish of the street.
Value
Description
Time
There are columns within the AddressBase product which provide a Time value. Where this is declared, the data will be provided in the following format.
Value
Type
Notes
USRNMatchIndicatorCode
This enumeration is used in association with the usrnMatchIndicator/USRN_MATCH_INDICATOR attribute found in the LPI table. This enumeration identifies how the USRN has been allocated to an address record.
Value
Description
Working with GML data
Loading GML
GML is an XML dialect which can be used to model geographic features. It was designed by the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) as a means for people to share information regardless of the applications or technology that they use.
In the first instance, GML was used to overcome the differences between different GIS applications by providing a neutral file format as an alternative to proprietary formats. Because it is independent of applications, it can also be moved between databases or other types of application, which allows a wider application than just GIS data transfer.
GML data can be viewed and loaded into a database using software such as Safe FME:
Code list and enumerations
A code list or enumeration is a controlled set of values which can be used to populate a specific column. The code list and enumeration UML models associated with AddressBase are shown in the diagram below:
AddressBase code list and enumerations
CSV
Original feature – AddressBase CSV
COU feature – AddressBase CSV
AddressBase Known Data Issues
This page provides the details of known data issues in the AddressBase product. Once resolved, details of a known data issue will be held on the page until the next release of the product.
Live known data issues
There are no live known data issues for AddressBase at this time.
GeoPlace
GeoPlace is a limited liability partnership jointly owned by the Local Government Association and Ordnance Survey and is the centre of excellence for spatial address and street information in Great Britain. GeoPlace brings together local government's address and streets gazetteers with information from Ordnance Survey, Improvement Service, Royal Mail’s PAF dataset and VOA addresses into a central spatial address data hub. The database hub is updated by GeoPlace based upon the receipt of data from all the contributing data sources.
GeoPlace manage this hub and provide address and street information to be utilised in the AddressBase products.
Coordinate reference systems
AddressBase products have two coordinate reference systems (CRS) present within the data:
British National Grid (BNG):BNG uses the OSGB36 geodetic datum and a single Transverse Mercator projection for the whole of Great Britain. Positions on this projection are described using Easting and Northing coordinates in units of metres. The BNG is a horizontal spatial reference system only; it does not specify a vertical (height) reference system.
European Terrestrial Reference System 89 (ETRS89):ETRS89 is the EU-recommended frame of reference for European data and is represented as Latitude and Longitude values. ETRS89 is a horizontal spatial reference system only; it does not specify a vertical (height) reference system.
Classification
The AddressBase product suite provides records of varying levels of classification and are based on classifications from the Local Authorities and OS. The varying levels of classification are as follows:
Updates are continuously made to the central spatial address data hub, which is managed by GeoPlace. These are used to produce the AddressBase Core product, which is supplied on a weekly basis. An extract is taken for the creation of AddressBase, AddressBase Plus and AddressBase Premium on a 6-weekly basis.
Quality control procedures are undertaken at all stages of production to ensure that the data is as accurate and complete as possible and conforms to the specification. These quality control checks include automated data testing against the product specification and visual checks by operators.
Precision
Coordinates for all addressable objects with each AddressBase product are published with geometry given to a precision of up to two decimal places for British National Grid coordinates, and up to seven decimal places for ETRS89 coordinates.
Tertiary Level Classification
RD02: Detached House
CH01: Boarding/Guest House/ Bed And Breakfast/Youth Hostel
Quaternary Level
CH01YH: Youth Hostel
In AddressBase Core, classification is given to Secondary Level where possible. You can therefore determine types of addresses, for example, different types of commercial addresses. Further details of the Classification Scheme for AddressBase products are available to view and download from the Classification Scheme page in the AddressBase Fundamentals guide.
Completeness
Quality control procedures are undertaken at all stages of production to ensure that the data is as accurate and complete as possible and conforms to the specification. These quality control checks include automated data testing against the product specification and visual checks by operators.
Precision
Coordinates for all addressable objects with each AddressBase product are published with geometry given to a precision of up to two decimal places for British National Grid coordinates, and up to seven decimal places for ETRS89 coordinates.
C
A record which is postal and has a parent record which is linked to PAF
L
A record which is identified as postal based on Local Authority information
D
A record which is linked to PAF
N
Not a postal address
F
Signifies the supply is a full supply
C
Signifies the supply is a COU file
2024-10-24
Date
Date columns will follow the structure: CCYY-MM-DD
N
Unofficial Address
Y
Official Address
3
Numbered Street
4
Unofficial Street Description
9
Description used for LLPG Access
1
Official designated Street Name
2
Street Description
4
Permanently closed (STREET_END_DATE must be entered)
1
Under construction
2
Open
3
Mixed
1
Metalled
2
UnMetalled
14:11:15
Time
Time will follow the structure of HH:MM:SS based on a 24-hour clock.
1
Matched manually to the nearest accessible Street.
2
Matched spatially to the nearest USRN. Not necessarily the access street.
UML diagram providing details of the code list and enumerations in the AddressBase product.
Diagram showing the relationship between GeoPlace, Ordnance Survey, LLPGs, Royal Mail and Scottish LGs.
AddressBase
Access to a current view of all Royal Mail Postcode Address File (PAF) addresses with additional location-based data featuring residential or commercial classifications.
N.B. This product will become End of Life on 29 November 2027 and will be withdrawn.
AddressBase Core
Access to over 33 million addresses sourced from Local Authority data and supplied with a Unique Property Reference Number (UPRN) and property-level coordinates.
AddressBase Plus
Access to over 37 million postal and non-postal addresses sourced from Local Authorities, Ordnance Survey and Royal Mail for England, Wales and Scotland.
N.B. This product will become End of Life on 29 November 2027 and will be withdrawn.
AddressBase Plus Islands
An addressing gazetteer offering full lifecycle information of a property for Northern Ireland, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands.
N.B. This product will become End of Life on 29 November 2027 and will be withdrawn.
AddressBase Premium
Provides the most detailed view available of an address and its lifecycle from creation through to retirement in England, Wales and Scotland.
AddressBase Premium Islands
Provides the most detailed view of an address and its lifecycle for Northern Ireland, Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.
Code-Point
A postcode locator that locates over 1.7 million postcode units in Great Britain and Northern Ireland – providing information about delivery points, positional quality, type and district codes amongst other data points.
Code-Point Open
An open dataset of all 1.7 million postcode units in Great Britain.
Code-Point with Polygons
A dataset providing the notional extent of every postcode in Great Britain for visualisation and analysis at a national scale.
OS Emergency Services Gazetteer (OS ESG)
Provides a national, consistent, and maintained view of the locations of names, places and objects in Great Britain to support the Emergency Services.
OS Open Names
A comprehensive open dataset of place names, road numbers and postcodes for Great Britain.
OS Open UPRN
An open dataset enabling linking, sharing and visualisation of data related to Unique Property Reference Numbers (UPRNs).
Points of Interest
Provides a comprehensive location-based directory of all public and privately owned businesses, educational institutions and leisure services in Great Britain.
Data capture and sources
The creation of AddressBase Core brings together the best parts of:
Local Government’s National Land and Property Gazetteer (NLPG)
The One Scotland Address Gazetteer (OSG)
Ordnance Survey-owned large-scale data and coordinates
Royal Mail Postcode Address File (PAF)
Local Government’s National Land and Property Gazetteer (NLPG)
The National Land and Property Gazetteer (NLPG) provides the most up-to-date addresses, including street names and numbers from each Local Authority’s LLPG in England and Wales. This data also provides a Unique Property Reference Number (UPRN) for each address encompassing residential, commercial and public infrastructure such as fire stations.
The One Scotland Address Gazetteer (OSG)
One Scotland Address Gazetteer (OSG) provides the most up-to-date addresses including street names and numbers from each Scottish Local Authority’s CAG. This data also provides a Unique Property Reference Number (UPRN) for each address encompassing residential, commercial and public infrastructure such as fire stations.
Ordnance Survey owned large-scale data and coordinates
Ordnance Survey provides a wide range of additional addresses including Objects Without a Postal Address (OWPAs) such as Telephone Exchanges, a wider spatial context by including references for both the OS MasterMap Topography Layer and OS MasterMap Highways Networks Layer which the address feature is related to and additional classification information.
Royal Mail Postcode Address File (PAF)
PAF contains approximately 30 million Royal Mail addresses that are identified as receiving post in Great Britain. Addresses from the NLPG and OSG are matched to the PAF addresses to provide the Unique Delivery Point Reference Number (UDPRN) into product and supplement the Local Authority address with information such as organisation name, postal town and postcode.
Address source
The address provided in AddressBase Core is captured by the Local Authority Street Naming and Numbering (SNN) custodian and Scottish Local Street Gazetteer (LSG) custodian, who allocate the official street name and building information. The SNN / LSG custodian has a statutory obligation to provide this information for all addresses within their administrative area. This information forms the legal authoritative representation of an address.
Elements of the provided address in AddressBase Core such as PO Box, Organisation, Post Town and Postcode are provided from Royal Mail PAF, where it has been matched to a local authority address.
Unoccupied /vacant/derelict
4
No longer existing
6
Planning permission granted
1
under construction
2
In use
3
Delete
I
Insert
U
Update
D
Provisional
8
Historical
BLPU records will not have a logical status value of 3, whereas LPI records can have all of the values expressed above.
1
Approved
3
Alternative
6
S
A small user, for example, a residential property
L
A large user, for example, a large commercial company
Explore mapping data relating to addresses, Unique Property Reference Numbers (UPRNs), named features and places. Discover address details, postcodes, identifiers and features.
Areas and Zones
Explore mapping data designed to provide information about areas used for administration and analysis. Discover postcodes, boundaries and built up areas.
Buildings and Infrastructure
Explore mapping data designed to provide information about the built environment. Discover building and structure features, identifiers and topography layers.
Land and Terrain
Explore mapping data designed to show land cover, land use and elevation. Discover land and built environment features, greenspace and topography layers.
Maps and Imagery
Explore mapping data designed to provide visual context, allowing you to perform simple analysis. Discover raster and vector maps, imagery and topography layers.
Transport Network
Explore mapping data designed to provide information about roads, paths, trams, ferries and railways. Discover transport networks, features and identifiers.
Water
Explore mapping data designed to show water bodies, tidelines and river networks. Discover water features, identifiers and topography layers.
📣 Product Announcements
A page detailing any newsworthy announcements for the OS Download data products.
🔍 Sample Data
Download product sample data from the or visualise it online using the .
📃 Terms and Conditions
The terms and conditions on which the OS Premium data and OS OpenData Download products are made available.
📅 Product Refresh Dates
The update frequencies of the Premium and OpenData Download products and the calendar months in which these updates are published. You'll also find tables listing the upcoming and past publication and data cut / extraction dates for AddressBase and OS MasterMap Topography Layer.
OS Product Roadmap
The roadmap has details of new Download product releases (for Premium and OpenData products) and upcoming OS National Geographic Database (OS NGD) releases, plus dates for planned product withdrawals as they reach their End of Life stage.
🗺️ PSGA Product Summary
A page listing all of the OS data products available to Public Sector Geospatial Agreement (PSGA) Members on an unlimited basis across the OS National Geographic Database (OS NGD), APIs and Download data products.
Classification scheme
The AddressBase Classification Scheme provides varying levels of classification for addresses which are captured and maintained by the Local Authorities and Ordnance Survey. This allows searches to be limited on residential or commercial addresses or be more specific to find all the flats or all fast-food outlets. The varying levels of classification are as follows:
Tertiary Level Classification
RD02: Detached House
CH01: Boarding/Guest House/ Bed And Breakfast/Youth Hostel
Quaternary Level
CH01YH: Youth Hostel
The AddressBase Classification Scheme is applicable to all of the AddressBase products
The level of classification varies across all addressable objects and across the different AddressBase products. AddressBase provides primary level classification for addressable objects, AddressBase Core provides up to secondary level, while AddressBase Plus, AddressBase Plus Islands, AddressBase Premium and AddressBase Premium Islands provide up to tertiary / quaternary level.
Use of third party data in classifications
The AddressBase Classification Scheme incorporates selected third-party data sources to provide additional intelligence and contribute towards classification validation.
AddressBase Classification Scheme download
The full AddressBase Classification Scheme is available in CSV (comma-separated values) and .xlsx formats for download in the following zip file:
The AddressBase product classification scheme was last updated on 17 January 2025
CountryCode
This code list is used in association with the attribute country/COUNTRYfound on the BLPU table. The code list describes within which country the address feature falls within.
Value
Description
E
This record is within England
W
This record is within Wales
RPCCode
This enumeration is used in association with the rpc/RPC attribute. This enumeration identifies the accuracy value of the coordinates allocated to the address.
Value
Description
Implementation notes
1
Central Internal Position
The address seed is contained within an OS MasterMap Topography Layer building and within 2.5m of its calculated centre.
Or
The seed is in the best possible position based on the nature of the premises, for example, Development Land, House Boat, Wind Farm.
StreetClassificationCode
This enumeration is used in association with the streetClassification/STREET_CLASSIFICATION attributefound in the Street table. The enumeration provides a value denoting the primary classification of the street record.
Value
Description
4
Pedestrian way or footpath
6
AddressBase Getting Started Guide
This getting started guide provides instructions for using three AddressBase products in different software applications. Users with limited technical knowledge will be able to follow this guide.
AddressBase products are created by bringing together different address sources:
Local Authority Gazetteers across Great Britain, Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man
Royal Mail PAF data
References to Valuation Office Agency (VOA) data
Additional addresses and coordinates from Ordnance Survey
The data is supplied as comma-separated values (CSV) or Geography Markup Language (GML).
This getting started guide shows you how to obtain a data supply, load and work with AddressBase data. It includes the following sections:
Prerequisites
System requirements
AddressBase data is an addressing gazetteer that can be used within GIS and database systems. For details of Ordnance Survey’s licensed partners, who can incorporate the AddressBase products in their systems, please see the systems/software page on the Ordnance Survey website.
Ordnance Survey does not recommend either suppliers or software products as the most appropriate system depends on many factors, such as the amount of data being taken, resources available within the organisation, the existing and planned information technology infrastructure and the applications that AddressBase products can be used for.
However, as a minimum, the following elements will be required in any system:
A means of reading the data, either in its native format, or by translating it into a file format or for storage in a database.
A means of storing and distributing the data, perhaps in a database or through a web-based service.
A way of visualising and querying the data, typically a GIS.
Backup provision of the product
You are advised to copy the supplied data to a backup medium.
Typical data volumes
For reading purposes, it is recommended to store the data on a single hard disc. This will speed up the ability of your computer to read the data. Unzipped file sizes for the full supply of each product are as follows:
Product
Unzipped CSV file size
Unzipped GML file size
AddressBase Technical Specification
This technical specification provides detailed technical information about AddressBase. It is targeted at technical users and software developers.
AddressBase provides an address product containing both residential and commercial addresses where a Local Authority address has been matched to a Royal Mail PAF address. This allows users to link additional information about a property to a single address. The product also provides enhancements to the Royal Mail PAF data by assigning an X and Y coordinate on British National Grid and an ETRS89 projection, as well as a primary level classification, and a representative point code describing the positional quality.
This technical specification includes the following sections:
Additional documentation covering the complete family of AddressBase products is available in the AddressBase Fundamentals pages. These covers key elements of design for AddressBase products, including:
AddressBase structure
AddressBase is structured as a flat file. The data structure in this document is described by means of Unified Modeling Language (UML) class diagrams.
The AddressBase product is constructed as per the following UML diagrams.
Model overview CSV
High level data model representing the address feature (CSV).
AddressBase CSV
Definition: This address record follows the lifecycle of a Postcode Address File (PAF) record matched to a Local Authority record. As a matched record is inserted, deleted and updated within PAF, these changes are incorporated into the AddressBase product. Similarly, if the matched Local Authority address record updates an attribute contained within the AddressBase product, this change will be reflected.
The UML model of AddressBase in CSV format can be seen in the UML diagram below; classes from the Ordnance Survey product specification are coloured orange; all code lists are coloured blue, while enumerations are coloured green.
UML model of AddressBase in CSV format
Model overview GML
AddressBase GML
Definition: This address record follows the lifecycle of a Postcode Address File (PAF) record matched to a Local Authority record. As a matched record is inserted, deleted and updated within PAF, these changes are incorporated into the AddressBase product. Similarly, if the matched Local Authority address record updates an attribute contained within the AddressBase product, this change will be reflected.
The UML model of AddressBase in GML format can be seen in the diagram below. In the UML diagram, classes from the Ordnance Survey product specification are orange, all code lists are coloured blue and enumerations are green.
UML model of AddressBase in GML format
Feature types
This section describes the features (one for CSV and two for GML) which make up the AddressBase product, giving the following information about each attribute.
AddressBase attribute information
Name and Definition
The name of the attribute and what it is describing.
Condition
A condition associated with this attribute (optional).
Attribute Type
The nature of the attribute, for example a numeric value or a code list value.
Multiplicity
Describes how many times this element is expected to be populated in the data. An attribute may be optional or mandatory within the AddressBase product. These are denoted by:
‘1’ – there must be a value.
‘0..1’ – population is optional but a maximum of one attribute will be returned These values may be used in combination.
AddressBase feature types
AddressBase Supply Set
This feature is formally known as the GML feature collection and is used to define a collection of features.
The following sub-sections provide details about the attributes included with this feature, their data types in the different output formats, and other important metadata about them.
Query time
Time the data was extracted from the database.
Attribute Name: queryTime (GML), Not provided (CSV)
Data Type: DateTime (GML)
Multiplicity: [1]
Query change since date
The date given as part of a change-only query.
Attribute Name: queryChangeSinceDate (GML), Not provided (CSV)
Data Type: Date (GML)
Multiplicity: [1]
GML
Original feature – AddressBase GML
Please note how not all attributes are provided where the field is null.
This release note provides information about the 30 March 2026 release of AddressBase Core.
This release note provides information about the 24 March 2026 release of AddressBase Core.
This release note provides information about the 17 March 2026 release of AddressBase Core.
This release note provides information about the 10 March 2026 release of AddressBase Core.
This release note provides information about the 03 March 2026 release of AddressBase Core.
This release note provides information about the 23 February 2026 release of AddressBase Core.
This release note provides information about the 17 February 2026 release of AddressBase Core.
This release note provides information about the 10 February 2026 release of AddressBase Core.
This release note provides information about the 03 February 2026 release of AddressBase Core.
This release note provides information about the 27 January 2026 release of AddressBase Core.
AddressBase Core Getting Started Guide
This getting started guide provides instructions for using AddressBase Core in different software applications. Users with limited technical knowledge will be able to follow this guide.
AddressBase Core is an easy-to-use, accessible addressing data product that gives plug-and-play access to complete and accurate address data. It combines key elements from existing AddressBase products into a simplified product.
AddressBase Core's primary source of addressing information is Local Authorities who have the statutory responsibility to capture and maintain Great Britain's address data. This ensures that the data is both authentic and authoritative in nature. Records are supplemented with Royal Mail Postal Address File (PAF) information and additional Ordnance Survey information on the usage of the address and unique identifiers that allow links to other OS and third-party datasets. Please read Data sources in AddressBase general for further details.
What you need?
Access to AddressBase Core data via a or the .
Basic technical knowledge of geographic information systems (GIS) and databases.
Instructions
These instructions show you how to use AddressBase Core and include:
Data sources
Through collaborative working between Ordnance Survey, GeoPlace, the Local Government Agency and Improvement Service, a single definitive spatial address database for Great Britain has been created and maintained since September 2011 for England and Wales, and April 2012 for Scotland.
This initiative supports the UK Location Strategy concept of a 'core reference geography', including the key principles of the European Union INSPIRE directive, that data should only be collected once and kept where it can be maintained most effectively.
AddressBase Data Inputs
The creation of AddressBase products brings together the best parts of:
AddressBase Islands local custodian codes
The following page details the current local custodian codes of all local custodians contributing to AddressBase Plus Islands and AddressBase Premium Islands products.
The local custodian codes listed in the zip file and table below are applicable to the AddressBase Plus Islands and AddressBase Premium Islands products.
They are not applicable to the AddressBase, AddressBase Core, AddressBase Plus and AddressBase Premium products; local custodian codes for these products are available from the .
Local custodian codes available on this page were last reviewed on 03 February 2026
Working with COU data
All the AddressBase products are available as a full supply or a COU. A COU means you will only be supplied with the features which have changed since your last supply. The following sections provide guidance on how you could potentially manage a COU supply of AddressBase and AddressBase Plus data.
If you receive a tile supply, you will receive Change Chunks. This means if a record within your tile has changed, all of the records in that tile will be provided to you as inserts, and no updates or deletes will be issued.
30 March 2026
This release note provides information about the release of the AddressBase Core product on 30 March 2026.
Record counts
Product
Full Supply Record Count
Change-Only Update Record Count
24 March 2026
This release note provides information about the release of the AddressBase Core product on 24 March 2026.
Record counts
Product
Full Supply Record Count
Change-Only Update Record Count
17 March 2026
This release note provides information about the release of the AddressBase Core product on 17 March 2026.
Record counts
Product
Full Supply Record Count
Change-Only Update Record Count
10 March 2026
This release note provides information about the release of the AddressBase Core product on 10 March 2026.
Record counts
Product
Full Supply Record Count
Change-Only Update Record Count
03 March 2026
This release note provides information about the release of the AddressBase Core product on 03 March 2026.
Record counts
Product
Full Supply Record Count
Change-Only Update Record Count
23 February 2026
This release note provides information about the release of the AddressBase Core product on 23 February 2026.
Record counts
Product
Full Supply Record Count
Change-Only Update Record Count
17 February 2026
This release note provides information about the release of the AddressBase Core product on 17 February 2026.
Record counts
Product
Full Supply Record Count
Change-Only Update Record Count
10 February 2026
This release note provides information about the release of the AddressBase Core product on 10 February 2026.
Record counts
Product
Full Supply Record Count
Change-Only Update Record Count
03 February 2026
This release note provides information about the release of the AddressBase Core product on 03 February 2026.
Record counts
Product
Full Supply Record Count
Change-Only Update Record Count
AddressBase Core Overview
This overview introduces AddressBase Core, giving context for all users – highlighting key features, providing examples of potential uses, and listing details such as file sizes, supply formats, etc.
Additional information on the AddressBase product family, including a feature comparison of the AddressBase products is available in the within the Addressing and Location Portfolio.
AddressBase Core is a simple and accessible addressing data product designed to remove the need for pre-processing and complexity. It provides Plug and Play access for addressing data and additional attribution in Great Britain.
AddressBase Core includes approved addressing records for England, Wales and Scotland based on Local Authority holdings of the National Land and Property Gazetteer (NLPG) and One Scotland Address Gazetteer (OSG). Other attribution includes secondary level classifications (detailing the use and type of an address) and a representative point code describing the positional quality of coordinates.
27 January 2026
This release note provides information about the release of the AddressBase Core product on 27 January 2026.
Record counts
Product
Full Supply Record Count
Change-Only Update Record Count
Product supply
On this page you'll find product supply information for AddressBase Core, including available formats, the supply mechanism, coverage and currency.
Available formats
The AddressBase Core product is available as a Comma-Separated Value (CSV) file or GeoPackage (GPKG) via a URL download.
Downloading a dataset
This section of the getting started guide takes you through the process of downloading and extracting your AddressBase Core supply.
Data supply
AddressBase Core is supplied in two optional offerings:
Size: 1
Size: 1
Comma-Separated Values (CSV) overview
Comma-separated value (CSV) files are a delimited text file that use commas or other characters to separate individual elements of a feature. It is used to store data, often in the form of a table. These tables can be freely loaded into databases and programs allowing for the easy loading and updating of data holdings.
The supply of AddressBase products in the CSV format means:
There will be one record per line in each file.
Fields will be separated by commas.
Character strings will be encapsulated with double quotation marks.
No comma will be placed at the end of each row in the file.
Records will be terminated by Carriage Return / Line Feed.
For AddressBase Core, the first line of the CSV file will be the Header row. Other AddressBase products have a separate Header file that is available on the product's Downloads page; this Header file can be combined with the data to give a structure tabular view. Instructions to do this are provided in each product's Getting Started Guide.
GeoPackage overview
GeoPackage (GPKG) is an open, standards-based data format as defined by the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC). It is designed to be a lightweight format that can contain large amounts of varied and complex data in a single, easy-to-distribute and ready-to-use file. Please be advised that older versions of GIS software may need updating before being able to display and interact with GeoPackage files.
GeoPackage offers the following benefits:
The single file is easy to transfer and offers the end-user a rich experience.
Attribute names are not limited in length making it user-friendly.
No file size limit so lots of data can be easily accommodated.
Supports raster, vector and database formats making it a highly versatile solution.
It is an OGC Standard.
In most cases, it is a Plug and Play format.
Supply and update
This product is updated weekly.
The primary supply mechanism of AddressBase Core will be a full Great Britain Set. A single file will be provided containing all records with headers already included (CSV) or the structure already defined (GeoPackage). This supply is known as a Managed Great Britain Set (MGBS).
All customers are also able to take a Full Supply or Change-only update (COU).
COU is a supply of features which have been created (inserted), changed (updated) or deleted in the product since their last supply. Any feature which has not undergone one of the above changes since a customer’s last supply will not be supplied as part of a COU. COU will be supplied on a weekly basis.
Please note, COUs are only available with the CSV file format.
Coverage
The coverage of the product is Great Britain (i.e. England, Scotland and Wales).
File sizes
AddressBase Core is provided as one file, regardless of format chosen. The file sizes for Great Britain are approximately:
CSV 2Gb
GeoPackage 12Gb
As a Managed Great Britain Set (MGBS) which provides national Great Britain data in one of two formats: Comma Separated Values (CSV) and GeoPackage (GPKG).
In 5km tiles in one of two formats: CSV and GPKG. CSVs are supplied as individual tiles where multiples are selected, whereas GPKG are only ever supplied as one file.
Backing up the data
We recommend that you copy your data supply to a backup medium, particularly if you take a COU supply to keep an archive of records. Please read Applying COU to tables > With archiving for more Information on how to do this.
Typical data volumes
For reading purposes, we recommend you store the data on a single hard disc. This speeds up your computer's ability to read the data.
Unzipped file sizes for a full supply of the product are as follows:
CSV 8GB
GPKG 12GB
Unzipped file sizes of the COU will vary upon each release as this will be dependent on the number of changes or records within a given tile.
Downloading instructions
PSGA customers can download full supply and COU of AddressBase Core via our download service.
In the OS Data Hub click Download data, you will be required to enter a password to access the PSGA members’ area. On successful entry to the download service, you will be able to view all your orders in the members’ area and download your data.
If you have ordered your data from our online portal, you will be sent an email with a link to a download page.
Within the PSGA members’ area, you can order and download the data that you require by clicking on Order Data, which is found under the Map Data heading.
Once you have selected Order Data, you will be presented with the Order page. From here, you can manage all your orders, including those for AddressBase products.
When you have placed an order for a product, the data will become available as a zipped data file.
Unzipping the data
The CSV and GPKG data are supplied in a compressed form (zip). Some software can access these files directly, while others will require it to be unzipped.
To unzip the zipped data files (.zip extension), use an unzipping utility found on most PCs, for example, WinZip. Alternatively, open-source zipping/unzipping software can be downloaded from the Internet, for example, 7-Zip.
The first level zip folder will contain the following:
Order Details.txt – a summary of the order including order type, format and information on files supplied.
Zipped folder with the product inside – this will be named as follows:
AddressBaseCore_{variant}_{order_date_YYYY-MM-DD}_{file_number_NNN}.{format}.zip
variant: FULL or COU
order_date: Date the order was received, for example, 2020-02-11
file_number: Three-digit zero padded file number, for example, 001
format: csv, gpkg
Example:
AddressBaseCore_FULL_2020-01-30_001.gpkg.zip or
AddressBaseCore_COU_2020-01-30_001.csv.zip
The product within the ZIP folder will use the same naming convention as above but without the .zip at the end.
S
This record is within Scotland
N
This record is within Northern Ireland
L
This record is within the Channel Islands
M
This record is within the Isle of Man
J
This record is not assigned to a country as it falls outside of the land boundaries used.
2
General Internal Position
The address seed is contained within an OS MasterMap Topography Layer building but is more than 2.5m away from its calculated centre.
Or
The seed is in an internal position based on the nature of the premises, for example, Development Land, House Boat.
3
Transitional Position
The address seed has been changed from provisional to live in the last six months. It has been captured to a high level of positional accuracy, but the OS MasterMap Topography Layer feature is not yet captured.
Please note the address seed will only be moved pending any imminent mapping updates.
4
Street Location
The address seed is plotted in accordance with the declared street start or end coordinates.
Please note this is the highest accuracy possible for Street Records.
5
Postcode Unit Position
The address seed has been captured to Postcode Unit level. It will be updated when more information becomes available.
9
Low accuracy – marked for priority review
This address seed has been captured to a lower level of accuracy and will be updated as a priority over the coming releases.
Cycletrack or cycleway
8
All vehicles
9
Restricted byway
10
Bridleway
There are only certain classification codes that extend to the quaternary classification level as shown above.
Local Government’s National Land and Property Gazetteer (NLPG)
The National Land and Property Gazetteer (NLPG) provides the most up-to-date addresses, including street names and numbers from each Local Authority’s LLPG in England and Wales. This data also provides a Unique Property Reference Number (UPRN) for each address encompassing residential, commercial and public infrastructure such as fire stations.
The One Scotland Address Gazetteer (OSG)
One Scotland Address Gazetteer (OSG) provides the most up-to-date addresses including street names and numbers from each Scottish Local Authority’s CAG. This data also provides a Unique Property Reference Number (UPRN) for each address encompassing residential, commercial and public infrastructure such as fire stations.
Ordnance Survey owned large-scale data and coordinates
Ordnance Survey provides a wide range of additional addresses including Objects Without a Postal Address (OWPAs) such as Telephone Exchanges, a wider spatial context by including references for both the OS MasterMap Topography Layer and OS MasterMap Highways Networks Layer which the address feature is related to and additional classification information.
Royal Mail Postcode Address File (PAF)
PAF contains approximately 30 million Royal Mail addresses that are identified as receiving post in Great Britain. Addresses from the NLPG and OSG are matched to the PAF addresses to provide the Unique Delivery Point Reference Number (UDPRN) into product and supplement the Local Authority address with information such as organisation name, postal town and postcode.
Valuation Office Agency
The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) gives the government the valuations and property advice needed to support taxation and benefits within England and Wales. Addresses from the NLPG are matched to the VOA address to provide the Unique Address Reference Number (UARN), VOA Special Category and Primary Description classification codes in product.
Roles and Responsibilities
GeoPlace
GeoPlace is a limited liability partnership jointly owned by the Local Government Association and Ordnance Survey and is the centre of excellence for spatial address and street information in Great Britain. GeoPlace brings together local government's address and streets gazetteers with information from Ordnance Survey, Improvement Service, Royal Mail’s PAF dataset and VOA addresses into a central spatial address data hub. The database hub is updated by GeoPlace based upon the receipt of data from all the contributing data sources.
GeoPlace manage this hub and provide address and street information to be utilised in the AddressBase products.
Diagram showing the relationship between GeoPlace, Ordnance Survey, LLPGs, Royal Mail and Scottish LGs.
England and Wales
At present, there are 314 local authorities in England and Wales, inputting updates to their Local Land and Property Gazetteers (LLPG). These changes are submitted to the GeoPlace Hub daily, weekly or monthly as part of their update schedule.
On receipt of these updates, they are checked to ensure that they have been produced in accordance with the NLPG Data Entry Conventions and they are in compliance with the national standard for the representation of address information – BS 7666 Parts 1 and 2.
Scotland
There are currently 32 local authorities in Scotland which update their local address gazetteers on a daily, weekly or monthly as part of their update schedule to the OSG. The Improvement Service check each
update to ensure compliance with the national standard for addressing (BS7666.2006) and the Scottish Gazetteer Conventions 1-3.
Local Authority Custodians
One of the key strengths of AddressBase products is the collection and verification of data at the local level. A real benefit is the capture of addresses at the earliest point in their lifecycle, and then this address being maintained by the local authority.
To do this the Local Custodians will utilise the wealth of information at their disposal until the address is demolished (when it becomes a historical record).
Local Custodians will use information such as:
Building and Development control
Planning and Land Charges
Waste Collection
Electoral Roll
LLPG custodians (England and Wales) are allocated sequential batches of UPRNs by GeoPlace, which are assigned by the LLPG custodian at the creation of a new address.
The OSG (Scotland) custodians are allocated sequential batches of UPRNs by the Improvement Service, which are assigned by the OSG custodian at the creation of a new address.
Islands local custodian codes download
Local custodian code data is available to download in CSV format in the following zip file:
Tiles are only available for GB supplies, so this does not apply to AddressBase Plus Islands.
Types of change
At a high-level, there are three types of change found within a COU:
Deletes (CHANGE_TYPE ‘D’) are objects that have ceased to exist in your AOI since the last product refresh.
Inserts (CHANGE_TYPE ‘I’) are objects that have been newly inserted into your AOI since the last product refresh.
Updates (CHANGE_TYPE ‘U’) are objects that have been updated in your AOI since the last product refresh.
High-level COU implementation model
The diagram below shows how to implement an AddressBase, AddressBase Plus and AddressBase Plus Islands COU within a database.
High-level COU implementation model
High-level COU implementation model – with archiving
Before a COU is applied, there may be a business requirement to archive existing address records. The table below shows how to implement archiving with an AddressBase COU within a database.
High-level COU implementation model on how to create archive tables and apply a COU
Applying COU to tables
Within AddressBase and AddressBase Plus there will be no records with the same UPRN. This can be tested by checking the number of records that have the same UPRN. The following SQL code would notify you of any duplicates:
This query should return 0 rows, and this confirms that there are no duplicates. As there are no duplicate records, we can use the UPRN to apply the COU.
Once confirmed, the following steps can be taken to apply the COU (without archiving):
Initially delete the existing records that will be updated and deleted:
Insert the new updated records and the new inserted records:
Where there is a business requirement to keep the records that are being Updated and Deleted in a separate archive table, the following SQL will create an Archive Table. It will populate with records that are being Updated and Deleted from the live AddressBase or AddressBase Plus table.
The following command creates an archive table of the records that are being updated and deleted from the existing table.
If this table already exists, you can simply use INSERT INTO rather than CREATE TABLE.
The following command then deletes the records from the existing table, which are either updates or deletions:
The following command then inserts the new insert records and the new updated records into the live table:
34 887 288
30 517
Please note that the Full Supply record count is based on a Managed Great Britain Set (MGBS). If you ordered your national coverage via the online ordering system using a polygon outline, your counts may differ.
Product supply comparison
There is a difference in record counts between taking a national Managed Great Britain Set (MGBS) and the national 5km tile supply. This is because the two supplies use different selection criteria. The difference in record counts is shown in the following table, allowing you to validate your data holdings once you have loaded the latest release of AddressBase Core.
Product
MGBS Full Count
National 5km Tiled Supply
Difference
AddressBase Core
34 887 288
34 887 274
14
A small difference in record counts is expected due to there being several features supplied in the MGBS which fall outside of the tiled area.
Changed records
If you receive a Change-Only Update (COU) supply for your AddressBase Core product, you will receive Insert, Update and Delete records within the supplied file. The following table details the numbers of these records which can be expected in the COU supply of the product:
Change Type
Count
Inserts
7 252
Updates
21 337
Deletes
1 928
COU populated 5km tile count
Source data currency
The following information relates to the currency of the source data used in the creation of this release of AddressBase Core:
Data Source
Date
Royal Mail Postcode Address File (PAF)
27 March 2026
National Land and Property Gazetteer
27 March 2026
One Scotland Gazetteer
22 March 2026
OS MasterMap Topography Layer
Known data issues
Details of data issues, service disruptions and planned maintenance for AddressBase Core will be communicated on the AddressBase Core Data Issues, Service Disruption and Planned Maintenance page; this page will provide details of the impacts of any data issues, plus updates on the expected time frame for resolution.
AddressBase Core
34 881 964
30 743
Please note that the Full Supply record count is based on a Managed Great Britain Set (MGBS). If you ordered your national coverage via the online ordering system using a polygon outline, your counts may differ.
Product supply comparison
There is a difference in record counts between taking a national Managed Great Britain Set (MGBS) and the national 5km tile supply. This is because the two supplies use different selection criteria. The difference in record counts is shown in the following table, allowing you to validate your data holdings once you have loaded the latest release of AddressBase Core.
Product
MGBS Full Count
National 5km Tiled Supply
Difference
AddressBase Core
34 881 964
34 881 950
14
A small difference in record counts is expected due to there being several features supplied in the MGBS which fall outside of the tiled area.
Changed records
If you receive a Change-Only Update (COU) supply for your AddressBase Core product, you will receive Insert, Update and Delete records within the supplied file. The following table details the numbers of these records which can be expected in the COU supply of the product:
Change Type
Count
Inserts
6 858
Updates
21 486
Deletes
2 399
COU populated 5km tile count
Source data currency
The following information relates to the currency of the source data used in the creation of this release of AddressBase Core:
Data Source
Date
Royal Mail Postcode Address File (PAF)
20 March 2026
National Land and Property Gazetteer
20 March 2026
One Scotland Gazetteer
18 February 2026
OS MasterMap Topography Layer
Known data issues
Details of data issues, service disruptions and planned maintenance for AddressBase Core will be communicated on the AddressBase Core Data Issues, Service Disruption and Planned Maintenance page; this page will provide details of the impacts of any data issues, plus updates on the expected time frame for resolution.
AddressBase Core
34 877 505
39 800
Please note that the Full Supply record count is based on a Managed Great Britain Set (MGBS). If you ordered your national coverage via the online ordering system using a polygon outline, your counts may differ.
Product supply comparison
There is a difference in record counts between taking a national Managed Great Britain Set (MGBS) and the national 5km tile supply. This is because the two supplies use different selection criteria. The difference in record counts is shown in the following table, allowing you to validate your data holdings once you have loaded the latest release of AddressBase Core.
Product
MGBS Full Count
National 5km Tiled Supply
Difference
AddressBase Core
34 877 505
34 877 491
14
A small difference in record counts is expected due to there being several features supplied in the MGBS which fall outside of the tiled area.
Changed records
If you receive a Change-Only Update (COU) supply for your AddressBase Core product, you will receive Insert, Update and Delete records within the supplied file. The following table details the numbers of these records which can be expected in the COU supply of the product:
Change Type
Count
Inserts
8 589
Updates
28 362
Deletes
2 849
COU populated 5km tile count
Source data currency
The following information relates to the currency of the source data used in the creation of this release of AddressBase Core:
Data Source
Date
Royal Mail Postcode Address File (PAF)
06 March 2026
National Land and Property Gazetteer
06 March 2026
One Scotland Gazetteer
18 February 2026
OS MasterMap Topography Layer
Known data issues
Details of data issues, service disruptions and planned maintenance for AddressBase Core will be communicated on the AddressBase Core Data Issues, Service Disruption and Planned Maintenance page; this page will provide details of the impacts of any data issues, plus updates on the expected time frame for resolution.
AddressBase Core
34 871 765
32 219
Please note that the Full Supply record count is based on a Managed Great Britain Set (MGBS). If you ordered your national coverage via the online ordering system using a polygon outline, your counts may differ.
Product supply comparison
There is a difference in record counts between taking a national Managed Great Britain Set (MGBS) and the national 5km tile supply. This is because the two supplies use different selection criteria. The difference in record counts is shown in the following table, allowing you to validate your data holdings once you have loaded the latest release of AddressBase Core.
Product
MGBS Full Count
National 5km Tiled Supply
Difference
AddressBase Core
34 871 765
34 871 751
14
A small difference in record counts is expected due to there being several features supplied in the MGBS which fall outside of the tiled area.
Changed records
If you receive a Change-Only Update (COU) supply for your AddressBase Core product, you will receive Insert, Update and Delete records within the supplied file. The following table details the numbers of these records which can be expected in the COU supply of the product:
Change Type
Count
Inserts
7 052
Updates
23 043
Deletes
2 124
COU populated 5km tile count
Source data currency
The following information relates to the currency of the source data used in the creation of this release of AddressBase Core:
Data Source
Date
Royal Mail Postcode Address File (PAF)
06 March 2026
National Land and Property Gazetteer
06 March 2026
One Scotland Gazetteer
18 February 2026
OS MasterMap Topography Layer
Known data issues
Details of data issues, service disruptions and planned maintenance for AddressBase Core will be communicated on the AddressBase Core Data Issues, Service Disruption and Planned Maintenance page; this page will provide details of the impacts of any data issues, plus updates on the expected time frame for resolution.
AddressBase Core
34 866 837
30 905
Please note that the Full Supply record count is based on a Managed Great Britain Set (MGBS). If you ordered your national coverage via the online ordering system using a polygon outline, your counts may differ.
Product supply comparison
There is a difference in record counts between taking a national Managed Great Britain Set (MGBS) and the national 5km tile supply. This is because the two supplies use different selection criteria. The difference in record counts is shown in the following table, allowing you to validate your data holdings once you have loaded the latest release of AddressBase Core.
Product
MGBS Full Count
National 5km Tiled Supply
Difference
AddressBase Core
34 866 837
34 866 823
14
A small difference in record counts is expected due to there being several features supplied in the MGBS which fall outside of the tiled area.
Changed records
If you receive a Change-Only Update (COU) supply for your AddressBase Core product, you will receive Insert, Update and Delete records within the supplied file. The following table details the numbers of these records which can be expected in the COU supply of the product:
Change Type
Count
Inserts
7 026
Updates
21 918
Deletes
1 961
COU populated 5km tile count
Source data currency
The following information relates to the currency of the source data used in the creation of this release of AddressBase Core:
Data Source
Date
Royal Mail Postcode Address File (PAF)
27 February 2026
National Land and Property Gazetteer
27 February 2026
One Scotland Gazetteer
18 February 2026
OS MasterMap Topography Layer
Known data issues
Details of data issues, service disruptions and planned maintenance for AddressBase Core will be communicated on the AddressBase Core Data Issues, Service Disruption and Planned Maintenance page; this page will provide details of the impacts of any data issues, plus updates on the expected time frame for resolution.
AddressBase Core
34 861 772
78 007
Please note that the Full Supply record count is based on a Managed Great Britain Set (MGBS). If you ordered your national coverage via the online ordering system using a polygon outline, your counts may differ.
Product supply comparison
There is a difference in record counts between taking a national Managed Great Britain Set (MGBS) and the national 5km tile supply. This is because the two supplies use different selection criteria. The difference in record counts is shown in the following table, allowing you to validate your data holdings once you have loaded the latest release of AddressBase Core.
Product
MGBS Full Count
National 5km Tiled Supply
Difference
AddressBase Core
34 861 772
34 861 758
14
A small difference in record counts is expected due to there being several features supplied in the MGBS which fall outside of the tiled area.
Changed records
If you receive a Change-Only Update (COU) supply for your AddressBase Core product, you will receive Insert, Update and Delete records within the supplied file. The following table details the numbers of these records which can be expected in the COU supply of the product:
Change Type
Count
Inserts
7 286
Updates
68 170
Deletes
2 551
COU populated 5km tile count
Source data currency
The following information relates to the currency of the source data used in the creation of this release of AddressBase Core:
Data Source
Date
Royal Mail Postcode Address File (PAF)
19 February 2026
National Land and Property Gazetteer
19 February 2026
One Scotland Gazetteer
18 February 2026
OS MasterMap Topography Layer
Known data issues
Details of data issues, service disruptions and planned maintenance for AddressBase Core will be communicated on the AddressBase Core Data Issues, Service Disruption and Planned Maintenance page; this page will provide details of the impacts of any data issues, plus updates on the expected time frame for resolution.
AddressBase Core
34 857 037
32 423
Please note that the Full Supply record count is based on a Managed Great Britain Set (MGBS). If you ordered your national coverage via the online ordering system using a polygon outline, your counts may differ.
Product supply comparison
There is a difference in record counts between taking a national Managed Great Britain Set (MGBS) and the national 5km tile supply. This is because the two supplies use different selection criteria. The difference in record counts is shown in the following table, allowing you to validate your data holdings once you have loaded the latest release of AddressBase Core.
Product
MGBS Full Count
National 5km Tiled Supply
Difference
AddressBase Core
34 857 037
34 857 023
14
A small difference in record counts is expected due to there being several features supplied in the MGBS which fall outside of the tiled area.
Changed records
If you receive a Change-Only Update (COU) supply for your AddressBase Core product, you will receive Insert, Update and Delete records within the supplied file. The following table details the numbers of these records which can be expected in the COU supply of the product:
Change Type
Count
Inserts
7 693
Updates
22 488
Deletes
2 242
COU populated 5km tile count
Source data currency
The following information relates to the currency of the source data used in the creation of this release of AddressBase Core:
Data Source
Date
Royal Mail Postcode Address File (PAF)
13 February 2026
National Land and Property Gazetteer
13 February 2026
One Scotland Gazetteer
08 February 2026
OS MasterMap Topography Layer
Known data issues
Details of data issues, service disruptions and planned maintenance for AddressBase Core will be communicated on the AddressBase Core Data Issues, Service Disruption and Planned Maintenance page; this page will provide details of the impacts of any data issues, plus updates on the expected time frame for resolution.
AddressBase Core
34 851 586
42 923
Please note that the Full Supply record count is based on a Managed Great Britain Set (MGBS). If you ordered your national coverage via the online ordering system using a polygon outline, your counts may differ.
Product supply comparison
There is a difference in record counts between taking a national Managed Great Britain Set (MGBS) and the national 5km tile supply. This is because the two supplies use different selection criteria. The difference in record counts is shown in the following table, allowing you to validate your data holdings once you have loaded the latest release of AddressBase Core.
Product
MGBS Full Count
National 5km Tiled Supply
Difference
AddressBase Core
34 851 586
34 851 572
14
A small difference in record counts is expected due to there being several features supplied in the MGBS which fall outside of the tiled area.
Changed records
If you receive a Change-Only Update (COU) supply for your AddressBase Core product, you will receive Insert, Update and Delete records within the supplied file. The following table details the numbers of these records which can be expected in the COU supply of the product:
Change Type
Count
Inserts
8 503
Updates
32 101
Deletes
2 319
COU populated 5km tile count
Source data currency
The following information relates to the currency of the source data used in the creation of this release of AddressBase Core:
Data Source
Date
Royal Mail Postcode Address File (PAF)
05 February 2026
National Land and Property Gazetteer
05 February 2026
One Scotland Gazetteer
26 January 2026
OS MasterMap Topography Layer
Known data issues
Details of data issues, service disruptions and planned maintenance for AddressBase Core will be communicated on the AddressBase Core Data Issues, Service Disruption and Planned Maintenance page; this page will provide details of the impacts of any data issues, plus updates on the expected time frame for resolution.
AddressBase Core
34 845 402
26 283
Please note that the Full Supply record count is based on a Managed Great Britain Set (MGBS). If you ordered your national coverage via the online ordering system using a polygon outline, your counts may differ.
Product supply comparison
There is a difference in record counts between taking a national Managed Great Britain Set (MGBS) and the national 5km tile supply. This is because the two supplies use different selection criteria. The difference in record counts is shown in the following table, allowing you to validate your data holdings once you have loaded the latest release of AddressBase Core.
Product
MGBS Full Count
National 5km Tiled Supply
Difference
AddressBase Core
34 845 402
34 845 388
14
A small difference in record counts is expected due to there being several features supplied in the MGBS which fall outside of the tiled area.
Changed records
If you receive a Change-Only Update (COU) supply for your AddressBase Core product, you will receive Insert, Update and Delete records within the supplied file. The following table details the numbers of these records which can be expected in the COU supply of the product:
Change Type
Count
Inserts
7 269
Updates
26 813
Deletes
2 201
COU populated 5km tile count
Source data currency
The following information relates to the currency of the source data used in the creation of this release of AddressBase Core:
Data Source
Date
Royal Mail Postcode Address File (PAF)
29 January 2026
National Land and Property Gazetteer
29 January 2026
One Scotland Gazetteer
19 January 2026
OS MasterMap Topography Layer
Known data issues
Details of data issues, service disruptions and planned maintenance for AddressBase Core will be communicated on the AddressBase Core Data Issues, Service Disruption and Planned Maintenance page; this page will provide details of the impacts of any data issues, plus updates on the expected time frame for resolution.
AddressBase Core
An image of a map showing the following AddressBase Core classifications:
ZW: Object of Interest/Place of Worship
RD: Residential/Dwelling
LD: Land/Development
CR: Commercial/Retail
CL: Commercial/Leisure
All approved addresses for where you can work, rest or play.
Each address is given a Unique Property Reference Number (UPRN) which will remain with that address throughout its lifecycle.
Property level coordinates.
Secondary level classifications for each property, for example, residential dwelling, commercial office.
Identifiers for other OS products and third party datasets, including the Royal Mail Postcode Address File (PAF), Unique Delivery Point Reference Number (UDPRN) and Office for National Statistics Governmental Statistical Service (GSS) codes.
Address data sourced from local authorities, which are legally responsible for the naming and numbering of all addresses in the UK.
Addresses complemented with Royal Mail PAF information such as Organisation name, Post Town and Postcode, where matched.
Single Line address – A concatenation of all provided address elements into a comma separated single attribute ready to be printed onto an envelope, loaded into a CRM or provided within an address look-up service.
AddressBase Core can be loaded into a database or directly into a GIS software package. It has been designed to make either of these processes as easy as possible, with the GeoPackage file format offering ‘drag and drop’ functionality for some software packages.
You can:
View addresses for approved properties across Great Britain, including the granular detail provided by the local authorities.
Determine the use of the address, for example, determine between commercial retail and commercial office addresses.
Please note that the Full Supply record count is based on a Managed Great Britain Set (MGBS). If you ordered your national coverage via the online ordering system using a polygon outline, your counts may differ.
Product supply comparison
There is a difference in record counts between taking a national Managed Great Britain Set (MGBS) and the national 5km tile supply. This is because the two supplies use different selection criteria. The difference in record counts is shown in the following table, allowing you to validate your data holdings once you have loaded the latest release of AddressBase Core.
Product
MGBS Full Count
National 5km Tiled Supply
Difference
AddressBase Core
34 840 334
34 840 320
14
A small difference in record counts is expected due to there being several features supplied in the MGBS which fall outside of the tiled area.
Changed records
If you receive a Change-Only Update (COU) supply for your AddressBase Core product, you will receive Insert, Update and Delete records within the supplied file. The following table details the numbers of these records which can be expected in the COU supply of the product:
Change Type
Count
Inserts
8 211
Updates
21 913
Deletes
2 854
COU populated 5km tile count
Source data currency
The following information relates to the currency of the source data used in the creation of this release of AddressBase Core:
Data Source
Date
Royal Mail Postcode Address File (PAF)
22 January 2026
National Land and Property Gazetteer
22 January 2026
One Scotland Gazetteer
19 January 2026
OS MasterMap Topography Layer
Known data issues
Details of data issues, service disruptions and planned maintenance for AddressBase Core will be communicated on the AddressBase Core Data Issues, Service Disruption and Planned Maintenance page; this page will provide details of the impacts of any data issues, plus updates on the expected time frame for resolution.
AddressBase Core
Supply and update
The primary supply mechanism of AddressBase data is referred to as non-geographic chunks. This is a way of dividing up the data into chunks that are supplied in separate volumes, which have a fixed maximum number of records. The supply is not supplied with any reference to the geographic position of records.
Public Sector Geospatial Agreement (PSGA) customers can order Geographic chunks (5km tiles) as well as non-geographic chunks, although geographic chunks are not considered the main form of supply.
All customers are also able to take a complete supply (referred to as a Managed Great Britain Set: MGBS) or an Area of Interest (AOI) as a full supply or a COU supply.
Non-geographic chunks (unzipped)
If you receive your data as non-geographic chunks, the filename will be constructed as follows:
productName_supply_ccyy-mm-dd_vvv.format
Where:
ProductName is AddressBase.
supply is defined as FULL or COU.
ccyy-mm-dd is the date the file was generated.
For example:
AddressBase_FULL_2013-05-28_001.gml (GML full supply)
A COU supply of data contains records or files that have changed between product refresh cycles. The primary benefit in supplying data in this way is that data volumes are smaller therefore reducing the amount of data that requires processing when compared to a full supply.
COU data enables a user to identify three types of change:
Deletes (CHANGE_TYPE ‘D’) are objects that have ceased to exist in your AOI since the last product refresh.
Inserts (CHANGE_TYPE ‘I’) are objects that have been newly inserted into your AOI since the last product refresh.
Updates (CHANGE_TYPE ‘U’) are objects that have been updated in your AOI since the last product refresh.
Non-geographic chunked COU
A COU file for non-geographic chunked data can be identified by its naming convention. Any change record will be provided as a full record with the appropriate change type, as listed above.
Geographic chunked COU (tile-based)
A geographic chunked COU is not supplied as per the non-geographic chunked COU outlined above. Its file naming convention can be found above. If a single record has changed within a specified 5km tile, the entire 5km tile containing all features will be supplied. This means the user will need to remove all features that previously existed in the provided tile(s) and insert the entire new tile(s) in its place.
Archiving
When users are deleting, inserting or updating features, it is up to the user to consider their archiving requirements. If deleted records are important to your business requirements, you must take appropriate action to archive previous records.
Example records
The following section provides example records for both the CSV and GML supplies. Please note that the data given is to provide an example only and should not to be used as accurate data.
CSV supply
Original feature – AddressBase CSV
COU feature – AddressBase CSV
GML supply
Original feature – AddressBase GML
Please note how not all attributes are provided where the field is null.
COU feature – AddressBase GML
AddressBase Islands Products April 2026 – Epoch 126
This release note provides information about the April 2026 Epoch 126 release of the AddressBase Islands products. These products were released to customers on 02 April 2026.
Record counts
Product
Full Supply Record Count
Change-Only Update Record Count
AddressBase Products April 2026 – Epoch 126
This release note provides information about the April 2026 Epoch 126 release of the AddressBase products. These products were released to customers on 02 April 2026.
Record counts
Product
Full Supply Record Count
Change-Only Update Record Count
AddressBase product family
The AddressBase product family is made up of four products:
Future and past publication dates
AddressBase, AddressBase Plus, AddressBase Premium and AddressBase Islands are updated every six weeks. This six week period of time is known as an epoch.
Our AddressBase products are currently available as a Full Supply or Change-Only Update (COU) for each epoch.
The information supplied here is replicated in full on the page, alongside publication information for all of our other Premium and OpenData products.
Data supply
DVD Supply of area of interest
When you receive an order via hard media (DVD), the following files will be supplied for the contracted area of interest (AOI):
Data
Data formats
The AddressBase product will be distributed as a comma-separated values (CSV) file or Geography Markup Language (GML) version 3.2. Both of these formats can either be supplied as a full supply or a change-only update (COU) supply.
CSV
The CSV supply of AddressBase means:
CSV to GML mapping
The naming of attributes between GML and CSV will be different due to the requirements of the file formats. For convenience the following table maps the CSV attribute name to the GML attribute name.
CSV
GML
SELECT uprn, COUNT(uprn) AS NumOccurrences FROM addressbase_plus
GROUP BY uprn
HAVING ( COUNT(uprn) > 1 );
DELETE FROM addressbaseplus WHERE uprn IN (SELECT uprn FROM addressbaseplus_cou WHERE change_type != 'I');
INSERT INTO addressbaseplus SELECT * FROM addressbaseplus _cou WHERE change_type != 'D';
CREATE TABLE addressbaseplus_archive AS SELECT * FROM addressbaseplus
WHERE uprn IN (SELECT uprn FROM addressbaseplus_cou WHERE change_type != 'I');
DELETE FROM addressbaseplus
WHERE uprn IN (SELECT uprn FROM addressbaseplus_cou WHERE change_type!= 'I');
INSERT INTO addressbaseplus SELECT * FROM addressbaseplus_cou WHERE change_type != 'D';
vvv is the volume number of the file.
format is the format of the files received, for example, csv or gml.
ngxxyy is the four-digit grid reference belonging to the 1km south-west corner of the 5km chunk.
format is the format of the files received, for example, csv or gml.
Belfast
8133
Causeway Coast and Glens
8134
Derry and Strabane
8135
Fermanagh and Omagh
8136
Lisburn and Castlereagh
8137
Mid and East Antrim
8138
Mid Ulster
8139
Newry Mourne and Down
8140
North Down and Ards
8200
Jersey
8205
Guernsey
3 031
29 January 2026
3 014
29 January 2026
3 790
29 January 2026
2 994
29 January 2026
2 874
29 January 2026
3 861
29 January 2026
3 038
11 December 2025
3 318
11 December 2025
3 240
11 December 2025
2 876
11 December 2025
Link to other OS products such as OS MasterMap Topography Layer and OS MasterMap Highways Network or third-party products such as Royal Mail PAF using the Unique Delivery Point Reference Number (UDRPN) or Office for National Statistics using the Government Statistical Service (GSS) codes.
Load and display the address location in a GIS software package using the GeoPackage format, with no need for any pre-processing.
Display address information as either a single line address or split into individual elements, with no need for any pre-processing.
You can't:
Access lifecycle information for an address.
Determine the most granular level of information about an address, for example, distinguish detached and semi-detached residential dwellings.
If you receive a Change-Only Update (COU) supply for your AddressBase Islands product, you will receive Insert, Update and Delete records within the supplied file. The following tables detail the count of these records.
AddressBase Plus Islands
Change Type
Count
Inserts
933
Updates
4 660
Deletes
638
AddressBase Premium Islands
AddressBase Premium Table
Inserts
Updates
Deletes
Street
21
110
0
Street Descriptor
21
It's important that COUs are processed with Deletes first, then Inserts and Updates. This is to ensure that updates are applied in the correct order. Further guidance on this can be found in 'Working with COU data' in the AddressBase Getting Started Guide
Source data currency
The following information relates to the currency of the source data used in the creation of Epoch 126:
Data Source
Date
Pointer (Northern Ireland)
18 February 2026
DigiMap (Channel Islands)
26 February 2026
Isle of Man
26 February 2026
Royal Mail PAF
Data issues
AddressBase Plus Islands issues
Details of live and resolved data issues for AddressBase Plus Islands will be communicated on the AddressBase Plus Islands Known Data Issues page. This page will provide details of their impacts and updates on the expected time frame for their resolution.
AddressBase Premium Islands issues
Details of live and resolved data issues for AddressBase Premium Islands will be communicated on the AddressBase Premium Islands Known Data Issues page. This page will provide details of their impacts and updates on the expected time frame for their resolution.
Next release
The next release of AddressBase Islands products, Epoch 127, is scheduled for 14 May 2026.
OS Open UPRN
41 507 361
N/A
AddressBase
30 897 890
138 295
AddressBase Plus
38 706 709
733 300
AddressBase Premium
See rows below
See rows below
Street
1 525 007
16 118
Street Descriptor
1 649 294
2 502
BLPU
41 507 361
655 949
Classification
45 294 152
165 924
LPI
46 855 437
175 454
Organisation
1 386 364
14 108
Delivery Point Address
31 012 899
63 989
Application Cross Ref.
200 774 465
620 825
Successor
0
0
Please note:
The Full Supply record counts are based on a Managed Great Britain Set (MGBS). If you have ordered your national coverage via the online ordering system using a polygon outline, then your counts may differ.
Change-Only Updates (COUs) are not available for the OS Open UPRN product.
Product supply comparison
There is a difference in product counts between taking a national Managed Great Britain Set (MGBS) and a national Area of Interest (AOI). This is because the two supplies use different selection criteria. The differences are shown in the following table, allowing for you to validate your data holdings once you have loaded the latest release of AddressBase data.
The national AOI refers to the pre-selection GB polygon from our download store. Therefore, if you have drawn your own AOI, the count will vary.
If you are unsure of your supply type, please check this with your OS Relationship Manager.
Product
MGBS Full Count
National AOI Full Count
Difference
AddressBase
30 897 890
30 897 889
1
AddressBase Plus
38 706 709
It's important that COUs are processed with Deletes first, then Inserts and Updates. This is to ensure that updates are applied in the correct order. Further guidance on this can be found in 'Working with COU data' in the AddressBase Getting Started Guide.
Changed records
If you receive a Change-Only Update (COU) supply for your AddressBase product, you will receive Insert, Update and Delete records within the supplied file. The following tables detail the numbers of these records which can be expected in an MGBS supply, and also how many tiles are affected if you take your supply as Changed Chunks.
AddressBase
Change Type
Count
Inserts
34 944
Updates
92 168
Deletes
11 183
COU Populated Tile Count
AddressBase Plus
Change Type
Count
Inserts
55 006
Updates
671 373
Deletes
13 152
COU Populated Tile Count
AddressBase Premium
AddressBase Premium Table
Inserts
Updates
Deletes
Street
1 068
14 989
61
Street Descriptor
1 107
Source data currency
The following information relates to the currency of the source data used in the creation of Epoch 126:
Data Source
Date
Royal Mail PAF
26 February 2026
National Land and Property Gazetteer
26 February 2026
One Scotland Gazetteer
08 February 2026
VOA Non-Domestic Rates
Data issues
AddressBase
Details of live and resolved data issues for AddressBase will be communicated on the AddressBase Known Data Issues page. This page will provide details of their impacts and updates on the expected time frame for their resolution.
AddressBase Plus issues
Details of live and resolved data issues for AddressBase Plus will be communicated on the AddressBase Plus Known Data Issues page. This page will provide details of their impacts and updates on the expected time frame for their resolution.
The match rates for Council Tax and Non-Domestic Rates for Epoch 126 are detailed as follows based on Valuation Office Agency (VOA) records up to 24 February 2026. The match rate is applicable to the AddressBase Premium product.
Data Source
Records Received
% Matched
Council Tax
27 423 462
99.89
Non-Domestic Rates
2 125 966
96.44
Tertiary classifications
Work is being undertaken to improve the classifications of records within the AddressBase products. This work has resulted in 45 684 more tertiary classifications present in Epoch 126 compared to Epoch 125. Indeed, 87.99 % of these tertiary classification improvements are against residential codes.
Next release
The next release of AddressBase products, Epoch 127, is scheduled for 14 May 2026.
AddressBase products are created by bringing together different address sources:
Local Authority Gazetteers for England, Wales and Scotland
Royal Mail PAF data
References to Valuation Office Agency (VOA) data
Additional addresses and coordinates from Ordnance Survey
This information is managed by GeoPlace under a joint venture partnership between Local Government Association and Ordnance Survey (OS). Scottish Local Authority address information is supplied to GeoPlace under licence between Ordnance Survey and the Improvement Service supported by the Scottish Government.
Ordnance Survey is responsible for customer management, sales, marketing and distribution of the AddressBase products.
Comparison of AddressBase products
This comparison table highlights the similarities and differences between the AddressBase products
AddressBase
AddressBase Core
AddressBase Plus
AddressBase Premium
UPRN
Product summaries
The four AddressBase products have been designed to meet distinct customer requirements. The source data is collated, verified and quality assured by GeoPlace.
AddressBase Premium
AddressBase Premium provides the most detailed view of an address and its life cycle for England, Wales and Scotland. It has approximately 40 million addresses as it records an address from creation through to retirement. All address records are provided with a Unique Property Reference Number (UPRN).
There are over 100 million cross-references which include references to VOA data and products such as OS MasterMap Topography Layer and OS Highways Layer are also included.
The product contains Local Authority, Ordnance Survey and Royal Mail addresses. This includes alternative addresses for current records where available, indicating variations on the official addresses and/or addresses in different languages (Welsh or Gaelic); as well as including provisional addresses (proposed planning developments), and historic information (demolished properties) where available. Other addresses known as Objects Without a Postal Address (OWPAs) are also included in AddressBase Premium, these include places of worship, community centres and utilities.
AddressBase Core
AddressBase Core is a new addition to the addressing portfolio, which was released in July 2020.
AddressBase Core takes many of the important elements from the other AddressBase products, such as coordinates, classification and cross-references to connect address information to other products via key identifiers.
AddressBase Core's primary source of addressing information is Local Authority data from the National Land and Property Gazetteer (NLPG) and One Scotland Gazetteer (OSG). They have the legal responsibility to capture and maintain address data for Great Britain, so you are assured of its authenticity and legal nature.
Address information is provided in an easy-to-use format alongside a single line attribute which concatenates all the address elements into what you would expect to see on an envelope. It is updated weekly and is offered in an easier to digest format to make the product as easy to access and use as possible.
Customers have asked for easy file formats, so CSV and GeoPackage are available for this product, with headers included – removing the need for any post-processing. Simply load, or drag and drop into a GIS package to start analysing.
AddressBase Plus
AddressBase Plus contains current properties using addresses sourced from Local Authorities, Ordnance Survey and Royal Mail for England, Wales and Scotland. The product currently contains approximately 37 million records.
The product contains all current addresses validated from Local Custodians and non-postal addresses such as ponds, electricity sub-stations and telephone boxes are also included.
The product enables the end-user to locate an address or property on a map using either X, Y coordinates supplied on a British National Grid or Latitude and Longitude coordinates provided on an ETRS89 projection, and display the Local Authority address elements or the Royal Mail address elements where matched.
AddressBase
AddressBase provides a current view of all Royal Mail PAF addresses that have been matched to the NLPG and OSG . The product provides Royal Mail attribution as well as enhancing PAF with X and Y coordinates on the British National Grid and ETRS89 coordinate reference system and providing the classification of an address to a primary level (see the classification scheme page for further details on classification levels). It also provides a primary level classification.
This product will provide you with a single view of an address, allow you to locate this address on a map to give you a geographic view and carry out primary analysis on the function of the address to determine, for example, residential from commercial properties.
Future dates are provided as an indication only and are subject to change. Data cut dates are estimates; these are given to provide an indication of the last point at which changes will reach the epoch.
As we approach the publication date and prepare to release a new epoch, any new requests placed for data will be paused to ensure data integrity. These requests will be processed as soon as this pause is lifted.
Within the Data directory, data files will be found in their compressed format.
Within the Doc folder, a text file called Label Information.txt will contain information that is printed on the DVD.
The Order_Details text file will provide information about the order, including the order date, currency date and file structure.
DVD supply of Managed Great Britain Sets
When you receive an order of a Managed Great Britain Set (MGBS) via hard media (DVD), the following files will be supplied:
Data
Doc
Resources
readme.txt
There are several items contained within your supply:
Data folder – This folder contains all of your data supply.
Doc folder – This folder contains the Medialis.txt file, which outlines the contents of the data you have been supplied.
Resources folder – This folder contains lookup tables for the local custodian code and AddressBase classification scheme as well as the Header files for the product.
The readme text file – This document provides guidance notes on matters such as the filename referencing used and the directory structure of the DVD.
Secure File Transfer Protocol
With a Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) order, the same folder structure is supplied as in DVD Supply of area of interest. The filenames will be slightly different, reflecting the SFTP order number, and the Docs folder will be empty.
Download
Public Sector Geospatial Agreement (PSGA) customers can download their geographic chunk data for AddressBase and AddressBase Plus as well as a full supply of AddressBase Plus Islands via our download service.
Download instructions
When you click Download data, you will be required to enter a password to access the PSGA Member’s Area. On successful entry to the download service, you will be able to view all your orders in the Member’s Area and download your data.
If you have ordered your data from our online portal, you will be sent an email with a link to a download page.
Within the PSGA Member’s Area, you can order and download the data that you require by clicking on Order Data, which can be found under the Map Data heading.
Once you have selected Order Data, you will be presented with the Order page. From here, you can manage all your orders, including those for AddressBase products.
When you have placed an order for a product, the data will become available as a series of zipped data files. To unzip these files, please refer to .
Chunked files
The data is supplied as chunked files that cover your selected area. These files are named according to the convention shown below.
When you open your data, you will see a series of zip folders:
Non-geographic chunks
Using AddressBase Plus and Islands as an example:
AddressBasePlus_FULL_2020-01-21_001_csv.zip(Full supply of GB CSV)
AddressBasePlus_ISL_FULL_2020-01-21_001_csv.zip(Full supply of Islands CSV) or
AddressBasePlus_COU_2020-01-21_001_gml.zip (COU supply of GB GML)
AddressBasePlus_ISL_COU_2020-01-21_001_gml.zip (COU supply of Islands GML)
Geographic chunks
Using AddressBase Plus as an example:
AddressBasePlus_FULL_2011-07-29_TQ2020_csv.zip(Full supply of CSV) or
AddressBasePlus_COU_2011-07-29_TQ2020_gml.zip(COU supply of GML)
The AddressBase Plus Islands product is not available in geographic chunks.
Unzipping the data
The GML and CSV data is supplied in a compressed form (ZIP). Some software can access these files directly, while other software will require the files to be unzipped.
To unzip the zipped data files (.zip extension), use an unzipping utility found on most PCs, for example, WinZip. Alternatively, open-source zipping/unzipping software can be downloaded from the Internet, for example, 7-Zip.
When you unzip the files, the data will be extracted as CSV files, which are ready to use. For example, unzipping AddressBase Plus will extract files similar to the chunks below:
Non-geographic chunks
AddressBasePlus_FULL_2020-01-21_001.csv
AddressBasePlus_ISL_FULL_2020-01-21_001.csv
Geographic chunks
AddressBasePlus_2011-07-29_NC4040.csv
There will be one record per line in each file.
Fields will be separated by commas.
String fields will be delimited by double quotes.
No comma will be placed at the end of each row in the file.
Records will be terminated by Carriage Return / Line Feed.
Double quotes inside strings will be escaped by doubling.
Where a field has no value in a record, two commas will be placed together in the record (one for the end of the previous field and one for the end of the null field). Where the null field is a text field double quotes will be included between the two commas, for example - , “”,
AddressBase CSV data will be transferred using Unicode encoded in UTF-8. Unicode includes all the characters in ISO-8859-14 (Welsh characters). Some accented characters are encoded differently.
The transfer will normally be in a single file, but the data can be split into multiple files using volume numbers. Most files will only be split where there are more than one million records.
The header row for the CSV is supplied separately and can be downloaded from the product support pages.
GML
The GML Encoding standard is an Extensible Markup Language (XML) grammar for expressing geographical features. XML schemas are used to define and validate the format and content of GML. The XML specifications that GML is based on are available from the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) website: http://www.w3.org. More information can be found in the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) document, Geography Markup Language v3.2.1: https://portal.ogc.org/files/?artifact_id=20509 The GML 3.2.1 specification provides a set of schemas that define the GML feature constructs and geometric types. These are designed to be used as a basis for building application-specific schemas, which define the data content.
A GML document is described using a GML Schema. The AddressBase schema document (addressbase.xsd), defines the features in AddressBase GML.
It imports the GML 3.2.1 schemas which rely on XML as defined by W3C at: http://www.w3.org/XML/1998/namespace.html
The application schema uses the following XML namespaces, for which definitions are available as given here:
Prefix
Namespace Identifier
Definition available at
gml
http://www.opengis.net/gml
xsi
http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema- instance
Built into XML –
Information about Unicode and UTF-8, the character encoding we have chosen, is available on the Unicode Consortium website: http://www.unicode.org/.
Features
Each feature within the AddressBaseSupplySet:FeatureCollection is encapsulated in the following member element according to its feature type:
Member Element
Feature Type
<abpl:addressMember>
Address
The UPRN of the feature is provided in the XML attribute of the gml:id
In the GML supply you can determine the extent of your supply by the <gml: Envelope>. For example:
Product supply
Available supply formats
All four of the AddressBase products are available as Comma-Separated Value (CSV) files. AddressBase, AddressBase Plus and AddressBase Premium are also available as Geography Markup Language (GML). AddressBase Core is also available as a GeoPackage.
Comma-Separated Values (CSV)
Comma-separated value (CSV) files are a delimited text file that use commas or other characters to separate individual elements of a feature. It is used to store data, often in the form of a table. These tables can be freely loaded into databases and programs allowing for the easy loading and updating of data holdings.
The supply of AddressBase products in the CSV format means:
There will be one record per line in each file.
Fields will be separated by commas.
Character strings will be encapsulated with double quotation marks.
For AddressBase Core, the first line of the CSV file will be the Header row. Other AddressBase products have a separate Header file that is available on the product's Downloads page; this Header file can be combined with the data to give a structure tabular view. Instructions to do this are provided in each product's Getting Started Guide.
Geography Markup Language (GML) version 3.2
The Geography Markup Language (GML) Encoding standard is an Extensible Markup Language (XML) grammar for expressing geographical features. XML schemas are used to define and validate the format and content of GML. The XML specifications that GML is based on are available from the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) website: More information can be found in the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) document, Geography Markup Language v3.2.1.
The GML 3.2 specification provides a set of schemas that define the GML feature constructs and geometric types. These are designed to be used as a basis for building application-specific schemas, which define the data content.
More information on the XML schemas can be found in the product technical specification.
GeoPackage
GeoPackage (GPKG) is an open, standards-based data format as defined by the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC). It is designed to be a lightweight format that can contain large amounts of varied and complex data in a single, easy-to-distribute and ready-to-use file. Please be advised that older versions of GIS software may need updating before being able to display and interact with GeoPackage files.
GeoPackage offers the following benefits:
The single file is easy to transfer and offers the end-user a rich experience.
Attribute names are not limited in length making it user-friendly.
No file size limit so lots of data can be easily accommodated.
Supply media and file structure
AddressBase products incorporate a web-based ordering system that allows customers to order initial data supply and updates, obtain price estimates and view details of their data holdings on demand.
AddressBase products can be ordered via DVD or Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP).
AddressBase Core is provided as a single file which will contain all records regardless of format and supply option: full supply or COU.
The AddressBase, AddressBase Plus and AddressBase Premium products have been split into chunks of smaller data. The primary supply mechanism is referred to as non-geographic chunks. This is the main mechanism for the delivery of data.
Public Sector Geospatial Agreement (PSGA) customers are able to order all AddressBase products via geographic chunks (5km tiles). Address records are provided in individual files, which represent each 5km tile ordered.
Non-geographic chunking
Non-geographic chunking is a way of dividing up data into chunks that are supplied in separate volumes that have a fixed maximum number of records, as opposed to a given geographic National Grid area. For this reason, it is possible for features from various geographic locations to appear in one volume and for adjacent features to appear in different volumes.
Non-geographic chunk volumes are designed to be loaded into spatial databases, but can be used in a file format as long as all chunks are translated or imported into the system at the same time.
CSV files can supply a maximum of one million complete address records within one volume, when this limit is reached, a new volume will be started.
For the GML supply a maximum of 200 000 features will be provided in one volume before the next one is started.
Geographic chunking
For data that is supplied in 5km-by-5km chunks, the file name will reference the 1km tile in the south-west corner of the 5km tile.
Based on your area of interest (AOI), for example the boundary of your local authority, a 5km-by-5km grid covering the area of interest is generated.
All features within each 5km grid that intersects the AOI are added to a geographic chunk file. Geographic chunking is performed using the standard Ordnance Survey National Grid.
Coverage
AddressBase products provide address data for England, Wales and Scotland.
National sets
A national set of AddressBase, known as a Managed GB Set (MGBS) service is a way of processing identical orders faster, which improves delivery times. All records within England, Wales and Scotland will be provided. If you are signed up to an MGBS service you will benefit from:
Data arriving faster and in a more predictable manner.
Seeing the same version of features as other organisations.
Easier data management – no need to manage your order beyond signing up.
For Public Sector Geospatial Agreement (PSGA) customers, MGBS will be supplied as geographic or non-geographic chunks. For non-PSGA users, MGBS will be supplied as non-geographic chunks.
Customer defined areas of interest
Customers may provide their own area of interest (AOI) in any standard GIS format.
You can supply us with a polygon or you can digitise a polygon within our online ordering service.
Product updates
Customers are able to take a full supply for all AddressBase products. An easier way to manage the addressing data which each product release is to take change-only updates (COU)
Full Supply
A Full Supply is a resupply of all addressable features in each product each time it is released. This may require you to delete to current holding and replace this with the newly supplied product on each product refresh.
AddressBase Core in GeoPackage format is only available as a Full Supply each week.
COU
Change-only update (COU) is a supply of features which have been created, changed or deleted in a customer’s area of interest since their last supply.
Any feature which has not undergone one of the above changes since a customer’s last supply will not be supplied as part of a COU.
COU will be supplied on a weekly basis for AddressBase Core CSV or a six-weekly basis for AddressBase, AddressBase Plus and AddressBase Premium.
A Geographic chunked COU is not supplied as per the Non-Geographic chunked COU outlined above. For a specified 5km tile, all features within the tile will be supplied should any of the individual features change.
This means the user will need to remove all features that previously existed in the provided tile(s) and insert the entire new tile(s) in its place.
AddressBase Islands January 2026 – Epoch 124
This release note provides information about the January 2026 Epoch 124 release of the AddressBase Islands products. These products were released to customers on 08 January 2026.
Record counts
Product
Full Supply Record Count
Change-Only Update Record Count
AddressBase Islands November 2025 – Epoch 123
This release note provides information about the November 2025 (Epoch 123) release of the AddressBase Islands products. These products were released to customers on 27 November 2025.
Record counts
Product
Full Supply Record Count
Change-Only Update Record Count
AddressBase Islands October 2025 – Epoch 122
This release note provides information about the October 2025 (Epoch 122) release of the AddressBase Islands products. These products were released to customers on 16 October 2025.
Record counts
Product
Full Supply Record Count
Change-Only Update Record Count
AddressBase Islands September 2025 – Epoch 121
This release note provides information about the September 2025 (Epoch 121) release of the AddressBase Islands products. These products were released to customers on 04 September 2025.
Record counts
Product
Full Supply Record Count
Change-Only Update Record Count
AddressBase Islands July 2025 – Epoch 120
This release note provides information about the July 2025 (Epoch 120) release of the AddressBase Islands products. These products were released to customers on 31 July 2025.
Record counts
Product
Full Supply Record Count
Change-Only Update Record Count
AddressBase Islands June 2025 – Epoch 119
This release note provides information about the June 2025 (Epoch 119) release of the AddressBase Islands products. These products were released to customers on 12 June 2025.
Record counts
Product
Full Supply Record Count
Change-Only Update Record Count
AddressBase Islands May 2025 – Epoch 118
This release note provides information about the May 2025 (Epoch 118) release of the AddressBase Islands products. These products were released to customers on 01 May 2025.
Object Without Postal Address (OWPA) enhancement in Epoch 118 for AddressBase Premium Islands and AddressBase Plus Islands
AddressBase Islands March 2025 – Epoch 117
This release note provides information about the March 2025 Epoch 117 release of the AddressBase Islands products. These products were released to customers on 20 March 2025
Record counts
Product
Full Supply Record Count
Change-Only Update Record Count
AddressBase Core Documentation
Here you will find all documentation for the AddressBase Core product.
Local Authority data is at the heart of AddressBase Core. This data provides you with a complete address product; access to over 33 million addresses each unique referenced with the Unique Property Reference Number (UPRN) and property level coordinates.
This product is updated weekly.
AddressBase Core takes many of the important elements from the other AddressBase products, such as coordinates, classification and cross-references to connect address information to other products via key identifiers.
If you receive a Change-Only Update (COU) supply for your AddressBase Islands product, you will receive Insert, Update and Delete records within the supplied file. The following tables detail the count of these records.
AddressBase Plus Islands
Change Type
Count
Inserts
1 329
Updates
5 048
Deletes
332
AddressBase Premium Islands
AddressBase Premium Islands Table
Inserts
Updates
Deletes
Street
58
153
0
Street Descriptor
58
Source data currency
The following information relates to the currency of the source data used in the creation of Epoch 124:
Data Source
Date
Pointer (Northern Ireland)
04 December 2025
DigiMap (Channel Islands)
04 December 2025
Isle of Man
04 December 2025
Royal Mail PAF
Data issues
AddressBase Plus Islands issues
Details of live and resolved data issues for AddressBase Plus Islands will be communicated on the AddressBase Plus Islands Known Data Issues page. This page will provide details of their impacts and updates on the expected time frame for their resolution.
AddressBase Premium Islands issues
Details of live and resolved data issues for AddressBase Premium Islands will be communicated on the AddressBase Premium Islands Known Data Issues page. This page will provide details of their impacts and updates on the expected time frame for their resolution.
Next release
The next release of AddressBase Islands products, Epoch 125, is scheduled for 19 February 2026
AddressBase Plus Islands
1 168 954
8 215
AddressBase Premium Islands
See rows below
See rows below
Street
49 099
226
Street Descriptor
49 099
65
BLPU
1 247 850
8 434
Classification
1 247 850
3 873
LPI
1 258 124
5 077
Organisation
38 826
1 228
Delivery Point Address
984 899
2 074
Application Cross Ref.
1 313 190
2 962
Successor
Changed records
If you receive a Change-Only Update (COU) supply for your AddressBase Islands product, you will receive Insert, Update and Delete records within the supplied file. The following tables detail the count of these records.
AddressBase Plus Islands
Change Type
Count
Inserts
2 430
Updates
5 504
Deletes
281
AddressBase Premium Islands
AddressBase Premium Islands Table
Inserts
Updates
Deletes
Street
48
175
3
Street Descriptor
48
Source data currency
The following information relates to the currency of the source data used in the creation of Epoch 123:
Data Source
Date
Pointer (Northern Ireland)
22 October 2025
DigiMap (Channel Islands)
23 October 2025
Isle of Man
23 October 2025
Royal Mail PAF
Data issues
AddressBase Plus Islands issues
Details of live and resolved data issues for AddressBase Plus Islands will be communicated on the AddressBase Plus Islands Known Data Issues page. This page will provide details of their impacts and updates on the expected time frame for their resolution.
AddressBase Premium Islands issues
Details of live and resolved data issues for AddressBase Premium Islands will be communicated on the AddressBase Premium Islands Known Data Issues page. This page will provide details of their impacts and updates on the expected time frame for their resolution.
Next release
The next release of AddressBase Islands products, Epoch 124, is scheduled for 08 January 2026
AddressBase Plus Islands
1 166 805
5 566
AddressBase Premium Islands
See rows below
See rows below
Street
49 054
120
Street Descriptor
49 054
31
BLPU
1 246 270
5 481
Classification
1 246 270
2 719
LPI
1 256 135
3 659
Organisation
38 878
71
Delivery Point Address
983 424
2 446
Application Cross Ref.
1 311 306
2 592
Successor
0
0
Changed records
If you receive a Change-Only Update (COU) supply for your AddressBase Islands product, you will receive Insert, Update and Delete records within the supplied file. The following tables detail the count of these records.
AddressBase Plus Islands
Change Type
Count
Inserts
1 114
Updates
4 218
Deletes
234
AddressBase Premium Islands
AddressBase Premium Islands Table
Inserts
Updates
Deletes
Street
30
90
0
Street Descriptor
30
Source data currency
The following information relates to the currency of the source data used in the creation of Epoch 122:
Data Source
Date
Pointer (Northern Ireland)
10 September 2025
DigiMap (Channel Islands)
11 September 2025
Isle of Man
11 September 2025
Royal Mail PAF
Data issues
AddressBase Plus Islands issues
Details of live and resolved data issues for AddressBase Plus Islands will be communicated on the AddressBase Plus Islands Known Data Issues page. This page will provide details of their impacts and updates on the expected time frame for their resolution.
AddressBase Premium Islands issues
Details of live and resolved data issues for AddressBase Premium Islands will be communicated on the AddressBase Premium Islands Known Data Issues page. This page will provide details of their impacts and updates on the expected time frame for their resolution.
Next release
The next release of AddressBase Islands products, Epoch 123, is scheduled for 27 November 2025.
AddressBase Plus Islands
1 165 925
7 173
AddressBase Premium Islands
See rows below
See rows below
Street
49 024
277
Street Descriptor
49 024
325
BLPU
1 244 779
7 295
Classification
1 244 779
2 629
LPI
1 254 637
3 937
Organisation
38 914
137
Delivery Point Address
982 710
3 659
Application Cross Ref.
1 309 970
2 914
Successor
0
0
Changed records
If you receive a Change-Only Update (COU) supply for your AddressBase Islands product, you will receive Insert, Update and Delete records within the supplied file. The following tables detail the count of these records.
AddressBase Plus Islands
Change Type
Count
Inserts
1 572
Updates
5 311
Deletes
290
AddressBase Premium Islands
AddressBase Premium Islands Table
Inserts
Updates
Deletes
Street
147
129
1
Street Descriptor
147
Source data currency
The following information relates to the currency of the source data used in the creation of Epoch 121:
Data Source
Date
Pointer (Northern Ireland)
06 August 2025
DigiMap (Channel Islands)
06 August 2025
Isle of Man
07 August 2025
Royal Mail PAF
Data issues
AddressBase Plus Islands issues
Details of live and resolved data issues for AddressBase Plus Islands will be communicated on the AddressBase Plus Islands Known Data Issues page. This page will provide details of their impacts and updates on the expected time frame for their resolution.
AddressBase Premium Islands issues
Details of live and resolved data issues for AddressBase Premium Islands will be communicated on the AddressBase Premium Islands Known Data Issues page. This page will provide details of their impacts and updates on the expected time frame for their resolution.
Next release
The next release of AddressBase Islands products, Epoch 121, is scheduled for 16 October 2025
AddressBase Plus Islands
1 164 643
6 384
AddressBase Premium Islands
See rows below
See rows below
Street
48 878
130
Street Descriptor
48 878
31
BLPU
1 243 734
6 768
Classification
1 243 734
3 673
LPI
1 253 574
2 536
Organisation
38 955
1 470
Delivery Point Address
980 142
1 047
Application Cross Ref.
1 309 094
2 134
Successor
0
0
Changed records
If you receive a Change-Only Update (COU) supply for your AddressBase Islands product, you will receive Insert, Update and Delete records within the supplied file. The following tables detail the count of these records.
AddressBase Plus Islands
Change Type
Count
Inserts
1 050
Updates
5 102
Deletes
232
AddressBase Premium Islands
AddressBase Premium Islands Table
Inserts
Updates
Deletes
Street
31
99
0
Street Descriptor
31
Source data currency
The following information relates to the currency of the source data used in the creation of Epoch EPOCH 120:
Data Source
Date
Pointer (Northern Ireland)
18 June 2025
DigiMap (Channel Islands)
19 June 2025
Isle of Man
19 June 2025
Royal Mail PAF
Data issues
AddressBase Plus Islands issues
Details of live and resolved data issues for AddressBase Plus Islands will be communicated on the AddressBase Plus Islands Known Data Issues page. This page will provide details of their impacts and updates on the expected time frame for their resolution.
AddressBase Premium Islands issues
Details of live and resolved data issues for AddressBase Premium Islands will be communicated on the AddressBase Premium Islands Known Data Issues page. This page will provide details of their impacts and updates on the expected time frame for their resolution.
Next release
The next release of AddressBase Islands products, Epoch 120, is scheduled for 04 September 2025.
AddressBase Plus Islands
1 163 825
4 446
AddressBase Premium Islands
See rows below
See rows below
Street
48 847
169
Street Descriptor
48 847
55
BLPU
1 242 982
4 896
Classification
1 242 982
1 915
LPI
1 252 802
2 892
Organisation
38 818
61
Delivery Point Address
979 584
1 135
Application Cross Ref.
1 308 493
2 023
Successor
0
0
Changed records
If you receive a Change-Only Update (COU) supply for your AddressBase Islands product, you will receive Insert, Update and Delete records within the supplied file. The following tables detail the count of these records.
AddressBase Plus Islands
Change Type
Count
Inserts
1 087
Updates
3 142
Deletes
217
AddressBase Premium Islands
AddressBase Premium Islands Table
Inserts
Updates
Deletes
Street
55
114
0
Street Descriptor
55
Source data currency
The following information relates to the currency of the source data used in the creation of Epoch 119:
Data Source
Date
Pointer (Northern Ireland)
07 May 2025
DigiMap (Channel Islands)
08 May 2025
Isle of Man
08 May 2025
Royal Mail PAF
Data issues
AddressBase Plus Islands issues
Details of live and resolved data issues for AddressBase Plus Islands will be communicated on the AddressBase Plus Islands Known Data Issues page. This page will provide details of their impacts and updates on the expected time frame for their resolution.
AddressBase Premium Islands issues
Details of live and resolved data issues for AddressBase Premium Islands will be communicated on the AddressBase Premium Islands Known Data Issues page. This page will provide details of their impacts and updates on the expected time frame for their resolution.
Next release
The next release of AddressBase Islands products, Epoch 120, is scheduled for 31 July 2025.
There is a small uplift in this release of both AddressBase Premium Islands and AddressBase Plus Islands due to an improvement in the Object Without Postal Address (OWPA) features contained within these products. As a result of this uplift, COU counts are around 30% larger, in comparison to the 3 previous releases; this may result in slower processing times.
Record counts
Product
Full Supply Record Count
Change-Only Update Record Count
AddressBase Plus Islands
1 162 955
17 958
AddressBase Premium Islands
See rows below
See rows below
Changed records
If you receive a Change-Only Update (COU) supply for your AddressBase Islands product, you will receive Insert, Update and Delete records within the supplied file. The following tables detail the count of these records.
AddressBase Plus Islands
Change Type
Count
Inserts
8 257
Updates
9 464
Deletes
237
AddressBase Premium Islands
AddressBase Premium Islands Table
Inserts
Updates
Deletes
Street
32
289
0
Street Descriptor
32
Source data currency
The following information relates to the currency of the source data used in the creation of Epoch 118:
Data Source
Date
Pointer (Northern Ireland)
27 March 2025
DigiMap (Channel Islands)
27 March 2025
Isle of Man
27 March 2025
Royal Mail PAF
Data issues
AddressBase Plus Islands issues
Details of live and resolved data issues for AddressBase Plus Islands will be communicated on the AddressBase Plus Islands Known Data Issues page. This page will provide details of their impacts and updates on the expected time frame for their resolution.
AddressBase Premium Islands issues
Details of live and resolved data issues for AddressBase Premium Islands will be communicated on the AddressBase Premium Islands Known Data Issues page. This page will provide details of their impacts and updates on the expected time frame for their resolution.
Next release
The next release of AddressBase Islands products, Epoch 119, is scheduled for 12 June 2025.
AddressBase Plus Islands
1 154 935
3 461
AddressBase Premium Islands
See rows below
See rows below
Street
48 760
127
Street Descriptor
48 760
49
BLPU
1 239 229
3 933
Classification
1 239 229
2 023
LPI
1 249 018
2 597
Organisation
38 742
258
Delivery Point Address
966 474
1 129
Application Cross Ref.
1 305 033
1 692
Successor
0
0
Changed records
If you receive a Change-Only Update (COU) supply for your AddressBase Islands product, you will receive Insert, Update and Delete records within the supplied file. The following tables detail the count of these records.
AddressBase Plus Islands
Change Type
Count
Inserts
1 039
Updates
2 234
Deletes
188
AddressBase Premium Islands
AddressBase Premium Islands Table
Inserts
Updates
Deletes
Street
35
90
2
Street Descriptor
35
Source data currency
The following information relates to the currency of the source data used in the creation of Epoch 117:
Data Source
Date
Pointer (Northern Ireland)
13 February 2025
DigiMap (Channel Islands)
13 February 2025
Isle of Man
13 February 2025
Royal Mail PAF
Data issues
AddressBase Plus Islands issues
There are no reported issues in this release of AddressBase Plus Islands.
AddressBase Premium Islands issues
Affected output formats: CSV and GML
Street incorrect coordinates –There are two Streets which have incorrect start or end coordinates of 000000. The unique identifiers can be provided upon request through your OS Relationship Manager.
Next release
The next release of AddressBase Islands products, Epoch 118, is scheduled for 01 May 2025.
AddressBase Core's primary source of addressing information is Local Authority data from the National Land and Property Gazetteer (NLPG) and One Scotland Gazetteer (OSG). They have the legal responsibility to capture and maintain address data for Great Britain, so you are assured of its authenticity and legal nature.
Address information is provided in an easy-to-use format alongside a single line attribute which concatenates all the address elements into what you would expect to see on an envelope. It is updated weekly and is offered in an easier to digest format to make the product as easy to access and use as possible.
Customers have asked for easy file formats, so CSV and GeoPackage are available for this product, with headers included – removing the need for any post-processing. Simply load, or drag and drop into a GIS package to start analysing.
Approved addressing records
AddressBase Core provides approved addressing records for England, Wales and Scotland based on Local Authority holdings of the National Land and Property Gazetteer (NLPG) and One Scotland Address Gazetteer (OSG). Other attribution includes property-level coordinates and secondary level classifications (detailing the use and type of an address).
Property classification
Through property classification attributes, you can quickly understand, locate and perform analysis on the type of addresses you want to interact with.
Authoritative data
AddressBase Core's primary source of addressing information is local authority data. They have the legal responsibility to capture and maintain address data for Great Britain, so you can be sure of its authenticity and legal nature.
Weekly updates
AddressBase Core is released weekly, keeping you more up to date with changes.
Property classification
Making the most of the property classification attributes, you can quickly understand, locate and perform analysis on the type of addresses you want to interact with.
Easy cross-referencing
AddressBase Core makes it easier to locate, match and gain insights from other location data with the benefit of having key identifiers referenced throughout. The Unique Property Reference Number (UPRN), Unique Street Reference Number (USRN) and Topographic Identifier (TOID) allow users to reference to other OS products.
Access: Download via the
Data theme: Address
Data structure: Vector – Points
Advantage of AddressBase Core over other AddressBase products
AddressBase Core takes many of the high importance items from the other AddressBase products, such as coordinates, classifications (type of address) and links to other important identifiers; but it also includes a single attribute for an address line, is updated weekly, and is offered in an easier to digest format to make the product as easy to access and use as possible.
Properties yet to be built or have been demolished
Properties yet to be built, or those which have been demolished, do not appear in AddressBase Core. In order to keep AddressBase Core as simple as possible, these records are not present. If these are critical to you, please look at AddressBase Premium.
AddressBase Core epoch correspondence
AddressBase Core is released weekly and has a different data extraction date compared to the 6-weekly release schedule of the other AddressBase products. Due to these differences, AddressBase Core will not correspond to any of the epochs.
Alternatively, you can try out the full product for free for three months by applying for a Data Exploration licence; this licence is primarily designed for organisations either considering becoming an OS Partner or who want to trial OS Premium data before working with an existing OS Partner.
Sample data
Download AddressBase Core sample data
You can download sample data for the product for free from the OS Data Hub. The sample data are available in CSV format and cover one area (Exeter).
Visualise AddressBase Core sample data online
This product is available to try out free online using one of our three sets of sample data (Exeter, Newport and Inverness) through the OS MasterMap Product Viewer:
What's next?
To access documentation and resources relating to this product, please refer to the following:
New users should start with the Overview to gain high-level insight into the product. The Getting Started Guide will help you to begin using product data in different software systems. The Technical Specification contains detailed technical insights.
Representation of AddressBase Core data showing several types of address classifications.
AddressBase Islands Products February 2026 – Epoch 125
This release note provides information about the February 2026 Epoch 125 release of the AddressBase Islands products. These products were released to customers on 19 February 2026.
Record counts
Product
Full Supply Record Count
Change-Only Update Record Count
Changed records
If you receive a Change-Only Update (COU) supply for your AddressBase Islands product, you will receive Insert, Update and Delete records within the supplied file. The following tables detail the count of these records.
AddressBase Plus Islands
Change Type
Count
AddressBase Premium Islands
AddressBase Premium Table
Inserts
Updates
Deletes
It's important that COUs are processed with Deletes first, then Inserts and Updates. This is to ensure that updates are applied in the correct order. Further guidance on this can be found in '' in the AddressBase Getting Started Guide
Source data currency
The following information relates to the currency of the source data used in the creation of Epoch 125:
Data Source
Date
Data issues
AddressBase Plus Islands issues
Details of live and resolved data issues for AddressBase Plus Islands will be communicated on the . This page will provide details of their impacts and updates on the expected time frame for their resolution.
AddressBase Premium Islands issues
Details of live and resolved data issues for AddressBase Premium Islands will be communicated on the . This page will provide details of their impacts and updates on the expected time frame for their resolution.
Next release
The next release of AddressBase Islands products, Epoch 126, is scheduled for 02 April 2026.
AddressBase Documentation
Here you will find all documentation for the AddressBase product.
Product nearing its End of Life (withdrawal) date
The AddressBase product will become End of Life on 29 November 2027. As of this date, Ordnance Survey will cease to maintain or publish updates to the product.
Further information and details about the recommended product migration pathway are available on the .
AddressBase provides a current view of all Royal Mail Postcode Address File (PAF) addresses that have been matched to the National Land and Property Gazetteer (NLPG) and One Scotland Gazetteer (OSG). The product provides Royal Mail attribution as well as enhancing the Royal Mail Postcode Address File (PAF) data with X and Y coordinates on the British National Grid and ETRS89 coordinate reference system and providing the classification of an address to a primary level. It also provides a primary level classification.
This product will provide you with a single view of an address, allow you to locate this address on a map to give you a geographic view and carry out primary analysis on the function of the address to determine, for example, residential from commercial properties.
This product is updated every six weeks.
Please see the for instructions on how to load and work with AddressBase data; this is a composite guide for , and .
Precision identification
Identify a property and locate it on a map with precision – using the X and Y coordinates we’ve assigned to the Royal Mail Postcode Address File (PAF) data.
Understand the nation with PAF
Every address geo data record provides Royal Mail address information from PAF, the Unique Delivery Point Reference Number (UDPRN) and X and Y coordinates.
Track customer data
Using the basic classifications in AddressBase you can quickly filter between residential and commercial addresses, which is ideal for marketing purposes.
Reduce marketing costs
How to get this product
Access to this product is free for PSGA (Public Sector Geospatial Agreement) Members. You can .
AddressBase will reach its in Autumn 2027. Until then you can access the data via the .
Sample data
Download AddressBase sample data
You can download sample data for the product for free from the . The sample data are available in CSV format and cover one area (Exeter).
Visualise AddressBase sample data online
This product is available to try out free online using one of our three sets of sample data (Exeter, Newport and Inverness) through the OS MasterMap Product Viewer:
Other ways to access this data
AddressBase will reach its in November 2027. We recommend that customers migrate to the as its new Royal Mail Address Feature Type is a direct replacement for AddressBase. The feature type contains data that enables you to access Royal Mail Postcode Address File (PAF) content, alongside Unique Property Reference Numbers (UPRNs) and limited additional attribution, similar to the information contained within AddressBase. Benefits to using OS NGD's Royal Mail Address Feature Type data over AddressBase data are listed on the .
What's next?
To access documentation and resources relating to this product, please refer to the following:
New users should start with the Fundamentals pages to gain high-level insight into AddressBase products. The Getting Started Guide will help you to begin using product data in different software systems. The Technical Specification contains detailed technical insights.
0
0
BLPU
1 598
5 755
171
Classification
1 598
1 582
171
LPI
1 702
2 461
171
Organisation
157
679
496
Delivery Point Address
949
263
182
Application Cross Ref.
1 703
1 440
331
Successor
0
0
0
04 December 2025
14
3
BLPU
1 722
6 570
142
Classification
1 722
2 009
142
LPI
2 131
2 804
142
Organisation
240
696
292
Delivery Point Address
1 636
277
161
Application Cross Ref.
2 091
664
207
Successor
0
0
0
23 October 2025
1
0
BLPU
1 673
3 626
182
Classification
1 673
864
182
LPI
1 680
1 797
182
Organisation
11
13
47
Delivery Point Address
917
1 326
203
Application Cross Ref.
1 647
634
311
Successor
0
0
0
11 September 2025
177
1
BLPU
1 367
5 606
322
Classification
1 367
940
322
LPI
1 385
2 230
322
Organisation
33
30
74
Delivery Point Address
2 768
691
200
Application Cross Ref.
1 338
1 114
462
Successor
0
0
0
07 August 2025
0
0
BLPU
944
5 632
192
Classification
944
2 537
192
LPI
964
1 380
192
Organisation
413
781
276
Delivery Point Address
705
195
147
Application Cross Ref.
919
897
318
Successor
0
0
0
19 June 2025
0
0
BLPU
1 211
3 586
99
Classification
1 211
605
99
LPI
1 223
1 570
99
Organisation
12
13
36
Delivery Point Address
745
206
184
Application Cross Ref.
1 150
706
167
Successor
0
0
0
08 May 2025
Street
48 792
321
Street Descriptor
48 792
32
BLPU
1 241 870
17 908
Classification
1 241 870
3 589
LPI
1 251 678
4 131
Organisation
38 842
254
Delivery Point Address
979 023
14 044
Application Cross Ref.
1 307 510
3 429
Successor
0
0
0
0
BLPU
2 806
14 937
165
Classification
2 806
618
165
LPI
2 825
1 141
165
Organisation
156
42
56
Delivery Point Address
13 190
213
641
Application Cross Ref.
2 773
360
296
Successor
0
0
0
27 March 2025
12
2
BLPU
1 124
2 684
125
Classification
1 124
774
125
LPI
1 193
1 279
125
Organisation
58
57
143
Delivery Point Address
654
325
150
Application Cross Ref.
1 114
385
193
Successor
0
0
0
13 February 2025
Our basic classifications – residential or commercial – will reduce the costs and increase the effectiveness of your direct marketing.
Confidence in data
In customer services, the need for accuracy is paramount. Have confidence in your front-line staff’s ability to look up addresses on a database of millions, quickly and efficiently.
Reduce marketing costs
Our basic classifications – residential or commercial – will reduce the costs and increase the effectiveness of your direct marketing.
Confidence in data
In customer services, the need for accuracy is paramount. Have confidence in your front-line staff’s ability to look up addresses on a database of millions, quickly and efficiently.
Ordering area: All of Great Britain or customisable area (5km² tiles or user-defined polygon)
House to flat conversions
To find out details such as houses that have been converted to flats, you'll need AddressBase Plus. it includes current properties and addresses sourced from local authorities, Ordnance Survey and Royal Mail. These are all matched to the UPRN and structured in a flat-file model.
AddressBase Plus has more records than AddressBase as it includes objects without postal addresses such as places of worship and community centres – as well as sub-divided properties. It lets you locate an address or property on a map, through the assigned X and Y coordinates.
Crucially, the cross-referencing information with OS MasterMap products via Topographic Identifiers (TOIDs) means you can view address data within a wider context.
Paying Royal Mail royalties as a commercial customer
Royal Mail royalties are included in the licence fee. A separate Royal Mail royalty fee applies if you license the AddressBase data on External Transaction Solution (ETS) terms.
File size
If the file size of your order is smaller than 2Gb, you can get it from our FTP server. in addition, public sector customers can download 5km chunk orders via our download service.
Data from Royal Mail’s PAF
The database is a vital component of the single address gazetteer database and is in each of the AddressBase products where there has been a match confirming the address to the LLPG address.
Interactive demonstrator of OS MasterMap Generation data
AddressBase Lightning Talk
A helpful introductory article hosted on our More than Maps platform providing additional information and context about using AddressBase data.
AddressBase Fundamentals
The AddressBase Fundamentals pages provide an overview of the 'family' of AddressBase products, covering key elements of design for AddressBase products.
Getting Started Guide
The getting started guide provides instructions for using three AddressBase products in different software applications. Users with limited technical knowledge will be able to follow this guide.
Technical Specification
The technical specification provides detailed technical information about AddressBase. It is targeted at technical users and software developers.
Downloads
The downloads page provides links and resources to support the application of AddressBase within your environment.
Coverage: Great Britain
Scale: 1:1 250 to 1:10 000
Format: CSV, GeoPackage
Ordering area: All of Great Britain or customisable area (5km² tiles or user-defined polygon)
Coverage of AddressBase Core
AddressBase Core covers Great Britain only, i.e. England, Wales and Scotland. It does not include Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands.
Data from Royal Mail’s PAF
The database is a vital component of the single address gazetteer database and is in each of the AddressBase products where there has been a match confirming the address to the LLPG address.
OS MasterMap Product Viewer
Interactive demonstrator of OS MasterMap Generation data
AddressBase Core Lightning Talk
A helpful introductory article hosted on our More than Maps platform providing additional information and context about using AddressBase Core data.
Overview
The Overview introduces AddressBase Core, giving context for all users – highlighting key features, providing examples of potential uses, and listing details such as file sizes, supply formats, etc.
Getting Started Guide
The getting started guide provides instructions for using AddressBase Core in different software applications. Users with limited technical knowledge will be able to follow this guide.
Technical Specification
The technical specification provides detailed technical information about AddressBase Core. It is targeted at technical users and software developers.
Downloads
The downloads page provides links and resources to support the application of AddressBase Core within your environment.
Ordnance Survey Website
View AddressBase Core product information and find out how to get this product on the OS website.
This release note provides information about the February 2026 Epoch 125 release of the AddressBase products. These products were released to customers on 19 February 2026.
Record counts
Product
Full Supply Record Count
Change-Only Update Record Count
OS Open UPRN
41 431 031
N/A
AddressBase
30 874 129
126 236
AddressBase Plus
38 665 150
540 622
AddressBase Premium
See rows below
See rows below
Street
1 524 000
8 604
Street Descriptor
1 648 251
1 788
BLPU
41 466 127
393 436
Classification
45 258 410
122 086
LPI
46 802 762
155 177
Organisation
1 386 580
13 693
Delivery Point Address
30 988 749
63 449
Application Cross Ref.
200 605 532
553 973
Successor
0
0
Please note:
The Full Supply record counts are based on a Managed Great Britain Set (MGBS). If you have ordered your national coverage via the online ordering system using a polygon outline, then your counts may differ.
Change-Only Updates (COUs) are not available for the OS Open UPRN product.
Product supply comparison
There is a difference in product counts between taking a national Managed Great Britain Set (MGBS) and a national Area of Interest (AOI). This is because the two supplies use different selection criteria. The differences are shown in the following table, allowing for you to validate your data holdings once you have loaded the latest release of AddressBase data.
The national AOI refers to the pre-selection GB polygon from our download store. Therefore, if you have drawn your own AOI, the count will vary.
If you are unsure of your supply type, please check this with your OS Relationship Manager.
Product
MGBS Full Count
National AOI Full Count
Difference
AddressBase
30 874 129
30 874 128
1
AddressBase Plus
38 665 150
It's important that COUs are processed with Deletes first, then Inserts and Updates. This is to ensure that updates are applied in the correct order. Further guidance on this can be found in 'Working with COU data' in the AddressBase Getting Started Guide.
Changed records
If you receive a Change-Only Update (COU) supply for your AddressBase product, you will receive Insert, Update and Delete records within the supplied file. The following tables detail the numbers of these records which can be expected in an MGBS supply, and also how many tiles are affected if you take your supply as Changed Chunks.
AddressBase
Change Type
Count
Inserts
38 200
Updates
78 063
Deletes
9 973
COU Populated Tile Count
AddressBase Plus
Change Type
Count
Inserts
54 832
Updates
471 150
Deletes
14 640
COU Populated Tile Count
AddressBase Premium
AddressBase Premium Table
Inserts
Updates
Deletes
Street
951
7 645
8
Street Descriptor
1 021
Source data currency
The following information relates to the currency of the source data used in the creation of Epoch 125:
Data Source
Date
Royal Mail PAF
15 January 2026
National Land and Property Gazetteer
15 January 2026
One Scotland Gazetteer
04 January 2026
VOA Non-Domestic Rates
Data issues
AddressBase
Details of live and resolved data issues for AddressBase will be communicated on the AddressBase Known Data Issues page. This page will provide details of their impacts and updates on the expected time frame for their resolution.
AddressBase Plus issues
Details of live and resolved data issues for AddressBase Plus will be communicated on the AddressBase Plus Known Data Issues page. This page will provide details of their impacts and updates on the expected time frame for their resolution.
The match rates for Council Tax and Non-Domestic Rates for Epoch 125 are detailed as follows based on Valuation Office Agency (VOA) records up to 12 January 2026. The match rate is applicable to the AddressBase Premium product.
Data Source
Records Received
% Matched
Council Tax
27 386 555
99.92
Non-Domestic Rates
2 124 360
96.50
Next release
The next release of AddressBase products, Epoch 126, is scheduled for 02 April 2026.
Address
This address record follows the lifecycle of a Postcode Address File (PAF) record matched to a Local Authority record. As a matched record is inserted, deleted and updated within PAF, these changes are incorporated into the AddressBase product. Similarly, if the matched Local Authority address record updates an attribute contained within the AddressBase product, this change will be reflected.
Feature type attributes
The following sub-sections provide details about the attributes included with this feature, their data types in the different output formats, and other important metadata about them.
The following sub-sections provide details about the attributes included with the Address feature type.
UPRN
Unique Property Reference Number (UPRN) assigned by the LLPG Custodian or Ordnance Survey.
Data Type: LocalisedCharacterString (GML), char (CSV)
Multiplicity: [0..1]
UDPRN
Royal Mail’s Unique Delivery Point Reference Number (UDPRN).
Attribute Name: udprn(GML), UDPRN (CSV)
Data Type: Integer (GML), Integer (CSV)
Multiplicity: [1]
Organisation name
The organisation name is the business name given to a delivery point within a building or small group of buildings. For example: TOURIST INFORMATION CENTRE
This field could also include entries for churches, public houses and libraries.
Condition: Organisation Name or PO Box Number must be present if Building Name or Building Number are all not present.
Data Type: LocalisedCharacterString (GML), char (CSV)
Department name
For some organisations, department name is indicated because mail is received by subdivisions of the main organisation at distinct delivery points. For example, Organisation Name: ABC COMMUNICATIONS or RM Department Name: MARKETING DEPARTMENT
Condition: Organisation Name or PO Box Number must be present if Building Name or Building Number are all not present.
Data Type: CharacterString (GML), char (CSV)
Sub building name
The sub-building name and/or number are identifiers for subdivisions of properties.
For example: Sub-building Name: FLAT 3, Building Name: POPLAR COURT, Thoroughfare: LONDON ROAD
If the above address is styled 3 POPLAR COURT, all the text will be shown in the Building Name attribute and the Sub-building Name will be empty. The building number will be shown in this field when it contains a range, decimal or non-numeric character (see Building Number).
Condition: If a Sub Building Name is present, a Building Name or Building Number must also be present.
Data Type: LocalisedCharacterString (GML), char (CSV)
Building name
The building name is a description applied to a single building or a small group of buildings, such as Highfield House. This also includes those building numbers that contain non-numeric characters, such as 44A.
Some descriptive names, when included with the rest of the address, are sufficient to identify the property uniquely and unambiguously, for example, MAGISTRATES COURT.
Sometimes the building name will be a blend of distinctive and descriptive naming, for example, RAILWAY TAVERN (PUBLIC HOUSE) or THE COURT ROYAL (HOTEL).
Condition: Building Name must be present if Organisation Name or Building Number or PO Box Number are all not present.
Data Type: LocalisedCharacterString (GML), char (CSV)
Building number
The building number is a number given to a single building or a small group of buildings, thus identifying it from its neighbours, for example, 44. Building numbers that contain a range, decimals or non-numeric characters do not appear in this field but will be found in the buildingName or the sub-BuildingName fields.
Condition: Building Number must be present if Organisation Name or Building Name or PO Box Number are all not present.
Data Type: Integer (GML), Integer (CSV)
Thoroughfare
A thoroughfare in AddressBase is fundamentally a road, track or named access route on which there are Royal Mail delivery points, for example, HIGH STREET.
Data Type: LocalisedCharacterString (GML), char (CSV)
Multiplicity: [0..1]
Post town
The town or city in which the Royal Mail sorting office is located which services this record. There may be more than one, possibly several, sorting offices in a town or city.
Attribute Name: postTown (GML), POST_TOWN (CSV)
Data Type: LocalisedCharacterString (GML), char (CSV)
Multiplicity: [1]
Double dependent locality
This is used to distinguish between similar thoroughfares or the same thoroughfare within a dependent locality. For example, Millbrook Industrial Estate and Cranford Estate in this situation: BRUNEL WAY, MILLBROOK INDUSTRIAL ESTATE, MILLBROOK, SOUTHAMPTON and BRUNEL WAY, CRANFORD ESTATE, MILLBROOK, SOUTHAMPTON.
Data Type: LocalisedCharacterString (GML), char (CSV)
Condition: If a Double Dependent Locality is present, a Dependent Locality must also be present.
Dependent locality
Dependent locality areas define an area within a post town. These are only necessary for postal purposes and are used to aid differentiation where there are thoroughfares of the same name in the same locality. For example, HIGH STREET in SHIRLEY and SWAYTHLING in this situation: HIGH STREET, SHIRLEY, SOUTHAMPTON and HIGH STREET, SWAYTHLING, SOUTHAMPTON.
Data Type: LocalisedCharacterString (GML), char (CSV)
Multiplicity: [0..1]
Postcode
A postcode is an abbreviated form of address made up of combinations of between five and seven alphanumeric characters. These are used by Royal Mail to help with the automated sorting of mail. A postcode may cover between 1 and 100 addresses.
There are two main components of a postcode, for example, NW6 4DP:
The outward code (or ‘outcode’). The first two–four characters of the postcode constituting the postcode area and the postcode district, for example, NW6. It is the part of the postcode that enables mail to be sent from the accepting office to the correct area for delivery.
The inward code (or ‘incode’). The last three characters of the postcode constituting the postcode sector and the postcode unit, example, 4DP. It is used to sort mail at the local delivery office.
Attribute Name: postcode (GML), POSTCODE (CSV)
Postcode type
Describes the address as a small or large user as defined by Royal Mail.
Primary classification of the address record. For example, identifying the record as commercial (value of ‘C’) or residential (value of ‘R’).
Attribute Name: class (GML), CLASS (CSV)
Data Type: CharacterString (GML), char (CSV)
Multiplicity: [1]
AddressBase Products January 2026 – Epoch 124
This release note provides information about the January 2026 Epoch 124 release of the AddressBase products. These products were released to customers on 08 January 2026.
Record counts
Product
Full Supply Record Count
Change-Only Update Record Count
AddressBase Products October 2025 – Epoch 122
This release note provides information about the October 2025 (Epoch 122) release of the AddressBase products. These products were released to customers on 16 October 2025.
Record counts
Product
Full Supply Record Count
Change-Only Update Record Count
AddressBase Products September 2025 – Epoch 121
This release note provides information about the September 2025 (Epoch 121) release of the AddressBase products. These products were released to customers on 04 September 2025.
Record counts
Product
Full Supply Record Count
Change-Only Update Record Count
38 665 123
27
AddressBase Premium
See rows below
See rows below
See rows below
Street
1 524 000
1 523 997
3
Street Descriptor
1 648 251
1 648 248
3
BLPU
41 466 127
41 466 097
30
Classification
45 258 410
45 258 378
32
LPI
46 802 762
46 802 731
31
Organisation
1 386 580
1 386 578
2
Delivery Point Address
30 988 749
30 988 748
1
Application Cross Ref.
200 605 532
200 605 501
31
Successor
0
0
0
5 055
6 718
757
10
BLPU
38 515
351 502
3 419
Classification
49 351
56 965
15 770
LPI
52 183
98 902
4 092
Organisation
4 226
5 029
4 438
Delivery Point Address
38 450
14 998
10 001
Application Cross Ref.
174 454
350 798
28 721
12 January 2026
VOA Council Tax
12 January 2026
OS MasterMap Topography Layer
06 January 2026
OS MasterMap Highways Network
09 January 2026
Code-Point with Polygons
02 January 2026
Boundary-Line
02 October 2025
Size: 12
Source: Contributing Local Authority / Ordnance Survey
The Full Supply record counts are based on a Managed Great Britain Set (MGBS). If you have ordered your national coverage via the online ordering system using a polygon outline, then your counts may differ.
Change-Only Updates (COUs) are not available for the OS Open UPRN product.
Product supply comparison
There is a difference in product counts between taking a national Managed Great Britain Set (MGBS) and a national Area of Interest (AOI). This is because the two supplies use different selection criteria. The differences are shown in the following table, allowing for you to validate your data holdings once you have loaded the latest release of AddressBase data.
The national AOI refers to the pre-selection GB polygon from our download store. Therefore, if you have drawn your own AOI, the count will vary.
If you are unsure of your supply type, please check this with your OS Relationship Manager.
Product
MGBS Full Count
National AOI Full Count
Difference
AddressBase
30 845 902
30 845 901
1
AddressBase Plus
38 624 958
Changed records
If you receive a Change-Only Update (COU) supply for your AddressBase product, you will receive Insert, Update and Delete records within the supplied file. The following tables detail the numbers of these records which can be expected in an MGBS supply, and also how many tiles are affected if you take your supply as Changed Chunks.
AddressBase
Change Type
Count
Inserts
34 765
Updates
84 466
Deletes
10 430
COU Populated Tile Count
AddressBase Plus
Change Type
Count
Inserts
57 650
Updates
566 160
Deletes
13 382
COU Populated Tile Count
AddressBase Premium
AddressBase Premium Table
Inserts
Updates
Deletes
Street
1 962
4 932
39
Street Descriptor
1 999
Source data currency
The following information relates to the currency of the source data used in the creation of Epoch 124:
Data Source
Date
Royal Mail PAF
04 December 2025
National Land and Property Gazetteer
04 December 2025
One Scotland Gazetteer
17 November 2025
VOA Non-Domestic Rates
Data issues
AddressBase
Details of live and resolved data issues for AddressBase will be communicated on the AddressBase Known Data Issues page. This page will provide details of their impacts and updates on the expected time frame for their resolution.
AddressBase Plus issues
Details of live and resolved data issues for AddressBase Plus will be communicated on the AddressBase Plus Known Data Issues page. This page will provide details of their impacts and updates on the expected time frame for their resolution.
The match rates for Council Tax and Non-Domestic Rates for Epoch 124 are detailed as follows based on Valuation Office Agency (VOA) records up to 04 December 2025. The match rate is applicable to the AddressBase Premium product.
Data Source
Records Received
% Matched
Council Tax
27 363 655
99.2
Non-Domestic Rates
2 122 323
96.47
Next release
The next release of AddressBase products, Epoch 125, is scheduled for 19 February 2026
OS Open UPRN
41 348 033
N/A
AddressBase
30 801 406
129 609
AddressBase Plus
38 538 480
583 698
AddressBase Premium
See rows below
See rows below
Street
1 519 786
3 535
Street Descriptor
1 643 901
1 715
BLPU
41 348 033
446 875
Classification
45 153 073
112 212
LPI
46 647 756
109 748
Organisation
1 387 389
18 623
Delivery Point Address
30 914 419
43 569
Application Cross Ref.
200 127 309
468 449
Successor
0
0
Please note:
The Full Supply record counts are based on a Managed Great Britain Set (MGBS). If you have ordered your national coverage via the online ordering system using a polygon outline, then your counts may differ.
Change-Only Updates (COUs) are not available for the OS Open UPRN product.
Product supply comparison
There is a difference in product counts between taking a national Managed Great Britain Set (MGBS) and a national Area of Interest (AOI). This is because the two supplies use different selection criteria. The differences are shown in the following table, allowing for you to validate your data holdings once you have loaded the latest release of AddressBase data.
The national AOI refers to the pre-selection GB polygon from our download store. Therefore, if you have drawn your own AOI, the count will vary.
If you are unsure of your supply type, please check this with your OS Relationship Manager.
Product
MGBS Full Count
National AOI Full Count
Difference
AddressBase
30 801 406
30 801 406
0
AddressBase Plus
38 538 480
Changed records
If you receive a Change-Only Update (COU) supply for your AddressBase product, you will receive Insert, Update and Delete records within the supplied file. The following tables detail the numbers of these records which can be expected in an MGBS supply, and also how many tiles are affected if you take your supply as Changed Chunks.
AddressBase
Change Type
Count
Inserts
27 357
Updates
95 524
Deletes
6 728
COU Populated Tile Count
AddressBase Plus
Change Type
Count
Inserts
42 865
Updates
531 846
Deletes
8 987
COU Populated Tile Count
AddressBase Premium
AddressBase Premium Table
Inserts
Updates
Deletes
Street
911
2 548
76
Street Descriptor
955
Source data currency
The following information relates to the currency of the source data used in the creation of Epoch 122:
Data Source
Date
Royal Mail PAF
11 September 2025
National Land and Property Gazetteer
11 September 2025
One Scotland Gazetteer
01 September 2025
VOA Non-Domestic Rates
Data issues
AddressBase
Details of live and resolved data issues for AddressBase will be communicated on the AddressBase Known Data Issues page. This page will provide details of their impacts and updates on the expected time frame for their resolution.
AddressBase Plus issues
Details of live and resolved data issues for AddressBase Plus will be communicated on the AddressBase Plus Known Data Issues page. This page will provide details of their impacts and updates on the expected time frame for their resolution.
AddressBase Premium
Details of live and resolved data issues for AddressBase Premium will be communicated on the AddressBase Premium Known Data Issues page. This page will provide details of their impacts and updates on the expected time frame for their resolution.
Improvements in Epoch 122
Valuation Office Agency matching
The match rates for Council Tax and Non-Domestic Rates for Epoch 122 are detailed as follows based on Valuation Office Agency (VOA) records up to 08 September 2025. The match rate is applicable to the AddressBase Premium product.
Data Source
Records Received
% Matched
Council Tax
27 312 781
99.92
Non-Domestic Rates
2 121 813
96.5
Next release
The next release of AddressBase products, Epoch 123, is scheduled for 27 November 2025.
OS Open UPRN
41 270 485
N/A
AddressBase
30 780 777
190 178
AddressBase Plus
38 504 602
747 079
AddressBase Premium
See rows below
See rows below
Street
1 518 951
6 979
Street Descriptor
1 643 024
3 566
BLPU
41 318 791
497 400
Classification
45 127 550
186 102
LPI
46 609 084
196 818
Organisation
1 396 937
21 750
Delivery Point Address
30 893 176
81 996
Application Cross Ref.
199 960 916
1 028 132
Successor
0
0
The Full Supply record counts are based on a Managed Great Britain Set (MGBS). If you have ordered your national coverage via the online ordering system using a polygon outline, then your counts may differ.
Please note that Change-Only Updates (COUs) are not available for the OS Open UPRN product.
Product supply comparison
There is a difference in product counts between taking a national Managed Great Britain Set (MGBS) and a national Area of Interest (AOI). This is because the two supplies use different selection criteria. The differences are shown in the following table, allowing for you to validate your data holdings once you have loaded the latest release of AddressBase data.
The national AOI refers to the pre-selection GB polygon from our download store. Therefore, if you have drawn your own AOI, the count will vary.
If you are unsure of your supply type, please check this with your OS Relationship Manager.
Product
MGBS Full Count
National AOI Full Count
Difference
AddressBase
30 780 777
30 780 777
0
AddressBase Plus
38 504 602
Changed records
If you receive a Change-Only Update (COU) supply for your AddressBase product, you will receive Insert, Update and Delete records within the supplied file. The following tables detail the numbers of these records which can be expected in an MGBS supply, and also how many tiles are affected if you take your supply as Changed Chunks.
AddressBase
Change Type
Count
Inserts
49 044
Updates
131 238
Deletes
9 896
COU Populated Tile Count
AddressBase Plus
Change Type
Count
Inserts
67 012
Updates
665 372
Deletes
14 695
COU Populated Tile Count
AddressBase Premium
AddressBase Premium Table
Inserts
Updates
Deletes
Street
1 241
5 726
12
Street Descriptor
1 321
Source data currency
The following information relates to the currency of the source data used in the creation of Epoch 121:
Data Source
Date
Royal Mail PAF
07 August 2025
National Land and Property Gazetteer
07 August 2025
One Scotland Gazetteer
14 July 2025
VOA Non-Domestic Rates
Data issues
AddressBase
Details of live and resolved data issues for AddressBase will be communicated on the AddressBase Known Data Issues page. This page will provide details of their impacts and updates on the expected time frame for their resolution.
AddressBase Plus issues
Details of live and resolved data issues for AddressBase Plus will be communicated on the AddressBase Plus Known Data Issues page. This page will provide details of their impacts and updates on the expected time frame for their resolution.
AddressBase Premium
Details of live and resolved data issues for AddressBase Premium will be communicated on the AddressBase Premium Known Data Issues page. This page will provide details of their impacts and updates on the expected time frame for their resolution.
Improvements in Epoch 121
Valuation Office Agency matching
The match rates for Council Tax and Non-Domestic Rates for Epoch 121 are detailed as follows based on Valuation Office Agency (VOA) records up to 28 July 2025. The match rate is applicable to the AddressBase Premium product.
Data Source
Records Received
% Matched
Council Tax
27 246 694
99.91
Non-Domestic Rates
2 122 283
96.43
Next release
The next release of AddressBase products, Epoch 122, is scheduled for 16 October 2025.
AddressBase Products November 2025 – Epoch 123
This release note provides information about the November 2025 (Epoch 123) release of the AddressBase products. These products were released to customers on 27 November 2025.
Record counts
Product
Full Supply Record Count
Change-Only Update Record Count
Please note:
The Full Supply record counts are based on a Managed Great Britain Set (MGBS). If you have ordered your national coverage via the online ordering system using a polygon outline, then your counts may differ.
Change-Only Updates (COUs) are not available for the OS Open UPRN product.
Product supply comparison
There is a difference in product counts between taking a national Managed Great Britain Set (MGBS) and a national Area of Interest (AOI). This is because the two supplies use different selection criteria. The differences are shown in the following table, allowing for you to validate your data holdings once you have loaded the latest release of AddressBase data.
The national AOI refers to the pre-selection GB polygon from our download store. Therefore, if you have drawn your own AOI, the count will vary.
If you are unsure of your supply type, please check this with your OS Relationship Manager.
Product
MGBS Full Count
National AOI Full Count
Difference
Changed records
If you receive a Change-Only Update (COU) supply for your AddressBase product, you will receive Insert, Update and Delete records within the supplied file. The following tables detail the numbers of these records which can be expected in an MGBS supply, and also how many tiles are affected if you take your supply as Changed Chunks.
AddressBase
Change Type
Count
AddressBase Plus
Change Type
Count
AddressBase Premium
AddressBase Premium Table
Inserts
Updates
Deletes
Source data currency
The following information relates to the currency of the source data used in the creation of Epoch 123:
Data Source
Date
Data issues
AddressBase
Details of live and resolved data issues for AddressBase will be communicated on the . This page will provide details of their impacts and updates on the expected time frame for their resolution.
AddressBase Plus issues
Details of live and resolved data issues for AddressBase Plus will be communicated on the . This page will provide details of their impacts and updates on the expected time frame for their resolution.
AddressBase Premium
Details of live and resolved data issues for AddressBase Premium will be communicated on the . This page will provide details of their impacts and updates on the expected time frame for their resolution.
Improvements in Epoch 123
Valuation Office Agency matching
The match rates for Council Tax and Non-Domestic Rates for Epoch 123 are detailed as follows based on Valuation Office Agency (VOA) records up to 23 October 2025. The match rate is applicable to the AddressBase Premium product.
Data Source
Records Received
% Matched
Next release
The next release of AddressBase products, Epoch 124, is scheduled for 08 January 2026
AddressBase Products July 2025 – Epoch 120
This release note provides information about the July 2025 (Epoch 120) release of the AddressBase products. These products were released to customers on 31 July 2025.
Record counts
Product
Full Supply Record Count
Change-Only Update Record Count
The Full Supply record counts are based on a Managed Great Britain Set (MGBS). If you have ordered your national coverage via the online ordering system using a polygon outline, then your counts may differ.
Please note that Change-Only Updates (COUs) are not available for the OS Open UPRN product.
Product supply comparison
There is a difference in product counts between taking a national Managed Great Britain Set (MGBS) and a national Area of Interest (AOI). This is because the two supplies use different selection criteria. The differences are shown in the following table, allowing for you to validate your data holdings once you have loaded the latest release of AddressBase data.
The national AOI refers to the pre-selection GB polygon from our download store. Therefore, if you have drawn your own AOI, the count will vary.
If you are unsure of your supply type, please check this with your OS Relationship Manager.
Product
MGBS Full Count
National AOI Full Count
Difference
Changed records
If you receive a Change-Only Update (COU) supply for your AddressBase product, you will receive Insert, Update and Delete records within the supplied file. The following tables detail the numbers of these records which can be expected in an MGBS supply, and also how many tiles are affected if you take your supply as Changed Chunks.
AddressBase
Change Type
Count
AddressBase Plus
Change Type
Count
AddressBase Premium
AddressBase Premium Table
Inserts
Updates
Deletes
Source data currency
The following information relates to the currency of the source data used in the creation of Epoch 120:
Data Source
Date
Data issues
AddressBase
Details of live and resolved data issues for AddressBase will be communicated on the . This page will provide details of their impacts and updates on the expected time frame for their resolution.
AddressBase Plus issues
Details of live and resolved data issues for AddressBase Plus will be communicated on the . This page will provide details of their impacts and updates on the expected time frame for their resolution.
AddressBase Premium
Details of live and resolved data issues for AddressBase Premium will be communicated on the . This page will provide details of their impacts and updates on the expected time frame for their resolution.
Improvements in Epoch 120
Valuation Office Agency matching
The match rates for Council Tax and Non-Domestic Rates for Epoch 120 are detailed as follows based on Valuation Office Agency (VOA) records up to 16 June 2025. The match rate is applicable to the AddressBase Premium product.
Data Source
Records Received
% Matched
Tertiary classifications
Work is being undertaken to improve the classifications of records within the AddressBase products. This work has resulted in 45 295 more tertiary classifications present in Epoch 120 compared to Epoch 119. Indeed, 88.15% of these tertiary classification improvements are against residential codes.
Next release
The next release of AddressBase products, Epoch 121, is scheduled for 04 September 2025.
AddressBase Products June 2025 – Epoch 119
This release note provides information about the June 2025 (Epoch 119) release of the AddressBase products. These products were released to customers on 12 June 2025.
Record counts
Product
Full Supply Record Count
Change-Only Update Record Count
The Full Supply record counts are based on a Managed Great Britain Set (MGBS). If you have ordered your national coverage via the online ordering system using a polygon outline, then your counts may differ.
Please note that Change-Only Updates (COUs) are not available for the OS Open UPRN product.
Product supply comparison
There is a difference in product counts between taking a national Managed Great Britain Set (MGBS) and a national Area of Interest (AOI). This is because the two supplies use different selection criteria. The differences are shown in the following table, allowing for you to validate your data holdings once you have loaded the latest release of AddressBase data.
The national AOI refers to the pre-selection GB polygon from our download store. Therefore, if you have drawn your own AOI, the count will vary.
If you are unsure of your supply type, please check this with your OS Relationship Manager.
Product
MGBS Full Count
National AOI Full Count
Difference
Changed records
If you receive a Change-Only Update (COU) supply for your AddressBase product, you will receive Insert, Update and Delete records within the supplied file. The following tables detail the numbers of these records which can be expected in an MGBS supply, and also how many tiles are affected if you take your supply as Changed Chunks.
AddressBase
Change Type
Count
AddressBase Plus
Change Type
Count
AddressBase Premium
AddressBase Premium Table
Inserts
Updates
Deletes
Source data currency
The following information relates to the currency of the source data used in the creation of Epoch 119:
Data Source
Date
Data issues
AddressBase
Details of live and resolved data issues for AddressBase will be communicated on the . This page will provide details of their impacts and updates on the expected time frame for their resolution.
AddressBase Plus issues
Details of live and resolved data issues for AddressBase Plus will be communicated on the . This page will provide details of their impacts and updates on the expected time frame for their resolution.
AddressBase Premium
Details of live and resolved data issues for AddressBase Premium will be communicated on the . This page will provide details of their impacts and updates on the expected time frame for their resolution.
Improvements in Epoch 119
Valuation Office Agency matching
The match rates for Council Tax and Non-Domestic Rates for Epoch 119 are detailed as follows based on Valuation Office Agency (VOA) records up to 06 May 2025. The match rate is applicable to the AddressBase Premium product.
Data Source
Records Received
% Matched
Tertiary classifications
Work is being undertaken to improve the classifications of records within the AddressBase products. This work has resulted in 45 877 more tertiary classifications present in Epoch 119 compared to Epoch 118. Indeed, 88.2% of these tertiary classification improvements are against residential codes.
Next release
The next release of AddressBase products, Epoch 120, is scheduled for 31 July 2025.
AddressBase Products May 2025 – Epoch 118
This release note provides information about the May 2025 (Epoch 118) release of the AddressBase products. These products were released to customers on 01 May 2025.
Object Without Postal Address (OWPA) enhancement in Epoch 118 for AddressBase Premium and AddressBase Plus
There is a small uplift in this release of both AddressBase Premium and AddressBase Plus due to an improvement in the Object Without Postal Address (OWPA) features contained within these two products. As a result of this uplift, COU counts are around 30% larger, in comparison to the 3 previous releases. This may result in slower processing times.
Record counts
Product
Full Supply Record Count
Change-Only Update Record Count
The Full Supply record counts are based on a Managed Great Britain Set (MGBS). If you have ordered your national coverage via the online ordering system using a polygon outline, then your counts may differ.
Please note that Change-Only Updates (COUs) are not available for the OS Open UPRN product.
Product supply comparison
There is a difference in product counts between taking a national Managed Great Britain Set (MGBS) and a national Area of Interest (AOI). This is because the two supplies use different selection criteria. The differences are shown in the following table, allowing for you to validate your data holdings once you have loaded the latest release of AddressBase data.
The national AOI refers to the pre-selection GB polygon from our download store. Therefore, if you have drawn your own AOI, the count will vary.
If you are unsure of your supply type, please check this with your OS Relationship Manager.
Product
MGBS Full Count
National AOI Full Count
Difference
Changed records
If you receive a Change-Only Update (COU) supply for your AddressBase product, you will receive Insert, Update and Delete records within the supplied file. The following tables detail the numbers of these records which can be expected in an MGBS supply, and also how many tiles are affected if you take your supply as Changed Chunks.
AddressBase
Change Type
Count
AddressBase Plus
Change Type
Count
AddressBase Premium
AddressBase Premium Table
Inserts
Updates
Deletes
Source data currency
The following information relates to the currency of the source data used in the creation of Epoch 118:
Data Source
Date
Data issues
AddressBase
Details of live and resolved data issues for AddressBase will be communicated on the . This page will provide details of their impacts and updates on the expected time frame for their resolution.
AddressBase Plus issues
Details of live and resolved data issues for AddressBase Plus will be communicated on the . This page will provide details of their impacts and updates on the expected time frame for their resolution.
AddressBase Premium
Details of live and resolved data issues for AddressBase Premium will be communicated on the . This page will provide details of their impacts and updates on the expected time frame for their resolution.
Improvements in Epoch 118
Valuation Office Agency matching
The match rates for Council Tax and Non-Domestic Rates for Epoch Epoch 118 are detailed as follows based on Valuation Office Agency (VOA) records up to 25 March 2025. The match rate is applicable to the AddressBase Premium product.
Data Source
Records Received
% Matched
Next release
The next release of AddressBase products, Epoch 119, is scheduled for 12 June 2025.
AddressBase Products March 2025 – Epoch 117
This release note provides information about the March 2025 Epoch 117 release of the AddressBase products. These products were released to customers on 20 March 2025.
Record counts
Product
Full Supply Record Count
Change-Only Update Record Count
The Full Supply record counts are based on a Managed Great Britain Set (MGBS). If you have ordered your national coverage via the online ordering system using a polygon outline, then your counts may differ.
Please note that Change-Only Updates (COUs) are not available for the OS Open UPRN product.
Product supply comparison
There is a difference in product counts between taking a national Managed Great Britain Set (MGBS) and a national Area of Interest (AOI). This is because the two supplies use different selection criteria. The differences are shown in the following table, allowing for you to validate your data holdings once you have loaded the latest release of AddressBase data.
The national AOI refers to the pre-selection GB polygon from our download store. Therefore, if you have drawn your own AOI, the count will vary.
If you are unsure of your supply type, please check this with your OS Relationship Manager.
Product
MGBS Full Count
National AOI Full Count
Difference
Changed records
If you receive a Change-Only Update (COU) supply for your AddressBase product, you will receive Insert, Update and Delete records within the supplied file. The following tables detail the numbers of these records which can be expected in an MGBS supply, and also how many tiles are affected if you take your supply as Changed Chunks.
AddressBase
Change Type
Count
AddressBase Plus
Change Type
Count
AddressBase Premium
AddressBase Premium Table
Inserts
Updates
Deletes
Source data currency
The following information relates to the currency of the source data used in the creation of Epoch 117:
Data Source
Date
Data issues
AddressBase Plus issues
Affected output formats: CSV and GML
There are 7 966 Unique Property Reference Numbers (UPRNs) which reference a Parent UPRN that cannot be found in the product. This is because the Parent UPRN is either provisional or historic and is not matched to the Royal Mail Postcode Address File (PAF) or Valuation Office Agency (VOA) record, meaning that it is not included in the AddressBase Plus product as per the existing background logic rules.
There are 231 records with a sao_start_no or sao_text that have no Parent UPRN in the product. This is because the Parent UPRN is a historical record which is included as part of the logic for record inclusion in the AddressBase Plus products.
Improvements in Epoch 117
Valuation Office Agency matching
The match rates for Council Tax and Non-Domestic Rates for Epoch 117 are detailed as follows based on Valuation Office Agency (VOA) records up to 10 February 2025. The match rate is applicable to the AddressBase Premium product.
Data Source
Records Received
% Matched
Tertiary classifications
Work is being undertaken to improve the classifications of records within the AddressBase products. This work has resulted in 69 348 more tertiary classifications present in Epoch 117 compared to Epoch 116. Indeed, 88.6% of these tertiary classification improvements are against residential codes.
Next release
The next release of AddressBase products, Epoch 118, is scheduled for 01 May 2025.
Searching for addresses
A common requirement for customers using the AddressBase products is to search for properties using full or partial addresses. Address searches may return a large number of addresses, a short list of possibilities, a single match or no results, depending on the search criteria.
There are many methods of implementing an address search, from free text queries through to structured address component searches. This guide will step through two such approaches that may be used when working with AddressBase and/or AddressBase Plus.
These methods are not intended as recommendations; they are merely examples of how to get maximum value out of the product when implementing an address search function.
Free text search
One type of search implementation involves a single ‘search engine’ style text box, into which a user can type all or some of an address. For example:
Find address
Results
In this scenario, the user can choose to type anything in Find address, which may be just one component of an address (for example, a postcode, street name or building name), several parts of an address (for example, street name + town name, house name + postcode, etc.) or even (rarely) a complete address.
There may or may not be commas between search items, or address components can be entered with or without capitalised letters, etc. In short, with this search method, there is no structure to the user input and the search methodology must be designed with this in mind.
Structured component search
The other common type of implementation for address searches involves entering search criteria in a structured way (for example, with a different text box for each major address component).
Results
This method guides the user to enter known components of an address and creates a predictable user input structure around which to build a search function. While generally simpler to use and implement, it can be less user-friendly, particularly in cases where it is not obvious which box to type an address component into, for example, is Richmond Terrace a building name or a street?
The search operation
This guide suggests how to implement the two search methods described above. Both should be used alongside the instructions on formatting single address labels.
The methods described here may be adapted to work with both AddressBase Plus, AddressBase Plus Islands and AddressBase; however, in the case of AddressBase, only Delivery Point Addresses are searchable, so the geographic guidance will not apply to this product.
An address search operation typically requires two stages of interaction from a user and several processing steps from the underlying IT system. These steps can be summarised in the following diagram:
The second user interaction can be omitted if there is only one result returned from the query. In almost all cases, there should be an option to ‘search again’ at the second and third stages in case no results are returned, or if none of the options shown is the required address.
Of course, different applications require different approaches; however, the general principles of the above process apply in all cases where an address is searched for based on user-entered criteria.
Generating a search query from structured user input
Within an interface that accepts structured user input for an address search, it is necessary to ‘map’ the fields presented to the user with those found within AddressBase or AddressBase Plus. In particular, any query will need to test multiple fields for a given input and will need to combine result sets from the two different address formats of AddressBase Plus (or the single address format of AddressBase) in order to produce the most complete result set.
Generally, a search form will describe a simplified view of an address in order to keep the user interface tidy and intuitive. Users may be given a set of text boxes to fill in, generally including building name, building number, street name, locality name, town name and postcode. The relationships between some common search fields and the fields found in AddressBase Plus are as follows:
Search Box
Mapped Delivery Point fields
Mapped geographic fields
The above mapping is an example only, and it is possible to breakdown the search fields differently, in which case, a different mapping would be required. The important thing is to consider all possibilities for how data might be recorded. For example, a business name can sometimes appear as an organisation name or a building/PAO name depending on circumstances, so both must be checked when creating a search query.
Numbers need to be handled very carefully due to the presence of suffixes and ranges. There are two options for structuring the search input in these cases:
A single ‘number’ box can be used (as shown above in Flat/Subdivision Number and Building Number), which will then require some string manipulation to split the input into the appropriate numeric range and suffix components in order to search the geographic addresses; or
Four boxes can be provided for each number (start number, start suffix, end number and end suffix), which would then need to be combined into an appropriate string to search the Delivery Point Addresses.
Structuring the query for a structured address search
The basic rules to adhere to when generating a search query from structured input are as follows:
Ignore any search boxes that are not filled in with values.
Where a value is entered, assume that a match on at least one of the mapped fields is essential.
In SQL query terms, this means that each search term should generate a sub-query that searches each of the mapped fields (using OR), and that these sub-queries should then be combined together (using AND) into a single search query. The following SQL code illustrates this (for the Delivery Point Address search only) for an example where a street, locality and town name have been entered by the user:
In the above example, streetsearchtext, localitysearchtext, and townsearchtextrepresent user- entered search terms (which could be parameters within an SQL function) and the GetFormattedAddress(*) function is a hypothetical user-defined function that returns the formatted address as a single string (suitable for display in the user interface). For more information on formatting addresses, please see .
On top of this, for a complete query, the two different types of addresses should be queried separately (Geographic and Delivery Point Addresses), and the two result sets should be amalgamated into a single set using a UNION. The following example builds upon the previous example to include Geographic Addresses as well as Delivery Point Addresses.
The SQL UNION operator will combine the two result sets, discarding any exact duplicates. (Retaining the exact duplicates requires the use of UNION ALL, but that is not desirable in this example.)
The resulting output from this query will be a set of search results as formatted addresses along with their UPRN. Exact duplicates will be omitted, but all ‘variations’ of the same address will be output (one row for each variation, with the same UPRN repeated more than once potentially). It may be wise to return the Postal Address Flag values against each to enable further filtering, for example, to restrict the results to postal addresses only. Note that the Postal Address Flag is only available in AddressBase Plus. All records in AddressBase are deemed postal as they are from Royal Mail’s PAF data.
Supporting case-insensitive queries and partial matches
A flaw in the above examples is the use of equality operators. In practice, because people do not tend to be consistent with capitalisation of letters, the SQL ‘LIKE’ operator might work better, and depending on the nature of the application, a ‘%’ wildcard could be appended to the end of each search term to allow only the first few letters of an address component to be entered. For example:
Alternatively, if exact matches are required but case sensitivity is not, then the UPPER() or LOWER() SQL functions can be used on each side of the equals sign in comparisons (a solution that should work in all databases):
Finally, to combine all of the approaches, the following would work for maximum flexibility:
Generating a search query from unstructured user input
When offering a ‘search engine’ style search feature with just a single text box to enter search terms, a wholly different approach is required. No assumptions can be made about the order, format or style of the user input, and the data will need to be ‘indexed’ in a way that facilitates searches of this type.
Creating a search index for addresses
Search engine style searches are likely to require the creation of an additional index/lookup table for addresses. Such a table is likely to consist of just two main columns: a key value (UPRN) and a formatted address string. Additional columns may be required to allow filtering of results (such as the AddressBase Postal flag values from AddressBase Plus, which would allow the results to be filtered by different address statuses).
The following table shows a possible address index table structure:
UPRN
Address Text
Statuses (multiple fields)
Note how the addresses have been formatted as a single text string with a single space between each word (although leaving commas in would do no harm). All forms of each address (both PAF and geographic) have been added to the index, so there can be several rows with the same UPRN. To speed up complex searching, an appropriate index could be added to the Address Text field, such as a full text search index.
Structuring the query for an unstructured address search
Once a suitable search index is in place, the query itself can be put together. The basic idea is to split the user input into search terms by removing commas, double spaces, and other unnecessary whitespace and then splitting it at each single space, as follows:
User input: 4, High Street, westville, wv17
Capitalised, with commas and double-spaces removed:
4 HIGH STREET WESTVILLE WV17
Split into separate search terms:
4
HIGH
STREET
WESTVILLE
Once the user input has been pre-processed into separate search terms, a query can be generated. The key assumption in this example will be that ALL search terms must be matched against the index table to be considered as a result. This implies a query where each value is matched using an ‘AND’ operator. In order to search the whole index, the ‘LIKE’ operator will need to be used along with a ‘%’ wildcard on either side of the search text. A suitable search query for the above example would be as follows:
This query would return all rows from the index table that contain all of the search terms, along with the appropriate UPRNs. The following table shows how the index table would be used in the above example to return relevant results:
Address text
Statuses (multiple fields)
This result set can then be presented to the user, who can select the most appropriate record, which can then be retrieved in full using the UPRN.
Of course, in a practical implementation, the above query would need to be dynamically generated, with a separate condition added for each search term. This example is quite a strict search query that requires all search terms to be present. Many layers of complexity could be added to allow partial and ‘fuzzy’ matches, and to return confidence scores, for example, but such enhancements are beyond the scope of this guide.
Summary
This guide is intended as an introduction to implementing address search functionality using AddressBase, AddressBase Plus and AddressBase Plus Islands. The following list is a summary of the main points:
A user front-end for an address search may contain a single, search engine style text box or multiple text boxes representing different parts of an address.
A typical address search function takes place in three stages:
Building_Name (in cases where a suffix or range is present)
PAO_StartNumber PAO_StartSuffix PAO_EndNumber
PAO_EndSuffix
Street
Thoroughfare Dependent_Thoroughfare
Street PAO_Text
Locality
Dependent_Locality Double_Dependent_Locality
Locality Town Street
Town
Dependent_Locality Post_Town
Town Locality
Postcode
Postcode
Postcode_Locator
4 HIGH STREET WALTHAMSDALE BURRIDGE BU27 9UB
Non-postal
WV17
FLAT 4 HIGHBURY COURT HIGH STREET WESTVILLE SUNNYTOWN WV17 7HL
Geographic + PAF
482974769830
MAPS4U LTD HIGH STREET WESTVILLE SUNNYTOWN WV17 7HL
Geographic + PAF
A query is run, returning a set of possible matches.
The user selects the address of interest and the full record is then returned.
With a structured search interface, the addresses can be queried directly by mapping the various address fields to the text boxes supplied.
For an unstructured (single text box) interface, it is necessary to create an index table with fully formatted address strings against each UPRN. Queries can then be run against this index table by splitting the user input into individual search terms and requiring them all to be present.
It is possible to filter results by status in AddressBase Plus (for example, postal or non-postal).
Any search function should search all forms of an address (both Geographic and Delivery Point Addresses).
Careful consideration should be given to the use of ‘fuzzy’ search algorithms (such as using wildcard or sound-alike searches).
Example Search UI with text boxes for each address component
Diagram showing typical processing steps when search for an address
Flat/Subdivision Number
123456789013
274859037849
SELECT dp.UPRN, GetFormattedAddress(dp.*) FROM abp dp
WHERE (dp.thoroughfare = streetsearchtext OR dp.dependent_thoroughfare = streetsearchtext) AND (dp.dependent_locality = localitysearchtext OR dp.double_dependent_locality = localitysearchtext) AND (dp.dependent_locality = townsearchtext OR dp.post_town = townsearchtext)
SELECT UPRN, GetFormattedAddress(*) FROM abp
WHERE (thoroughfare = streetsearchtext OR dependent_thoroughfare = streetsearchtext) AND (dependent_locality = localitysearchtext OR double_dependent_locality = localitysearchtext) AND (dependent_locality = townsearchtext OR post_town = townsearchtext)
UNION
SELECT uprn, GetFormattedAddress(*) FROM abp WHERE (.street_name = streetsearchtext OR .pao_text = streetsearchtext) AND
(.locality = localitysearchtext OR .town = localitysearchtext OR .street_name = localitysearchtext) AND (.town = townsearchtext OR .locality = townsearchtext)
post_town LIKE townsearchtext -- Case insensitive search in some databases ;
post_town LIKE (townsearchtext || ‘%’) -- Matches post towns that start with the search text ;
post_town LIKE (‘%’ || townsearchtext || ‘%’) -- Matches post towns that contain the search text;
UPPER(post_town) = UPPER(townsearchtext) -- Case insensitive equality;
UPPER(post_town) LIKE (‘%’ || UPPER(townsearchtext) || ‘%’)
SELECT UPRN, AddressText FROM AddressSearchIndex
WHERE
AddressText LIKE ‘%4%’ AND
AddressText LIKE ‘%HIGH%’ AND
AddressText LIKE ‘%STREET%’ AND
AddressText LIKE ‘%WESTVILLE%’ AND
AddressText LIKE ‘%WV17%’;
Working with CSV data
Preparing the CSV data
These instructions describe how to prepare the CSV format of AddressBase, AddressBase Plus and AddressBase Plus Islands data for processing.
Downloading header files
AddressBase and AddressBase Plus contain different attributes. This means that there is a separate header file for each of product. Download the file that matches your product using the links below. You will use this file in the section.
Merging multiple CSV files
Unzip all the CSV files into a single folder.
Ensure there are no spaces in your chosen folder path, for example: C:\AddressBase_Data or C:\AddressBase_Plus_Data or C:\AddressBase_Plus_Islands_Data.
Appending a header file to the CSV
Download and save the appropriate product CSV header file into the same folder as the merged AddressBase.csv file created in .
For AddressBase data, copy the relevant text below and paste it into a new Notepad document:
copy addressbase-header.csv+ mergedABdata.csv AB_Data.csv
Loading CSV into GIS software
These instructions describe how to load the CSV format of AddressBase, AddressBase Plus and AddressBase Plus Islands data. In these examples, AddressBase Plus data will be used to describe the procedures in various GI systems.
It is assumed that the preparation of the AddressBase, AddressBase Plus or AddressBase Plus Islands CSV data has been carried out as instructed in before attempting to load the data. If it has not been done, the full set of data will not load, and data loaded will not contain header information.
AddressBase, AddressBase Plus and AddressBase Plus Islands are also available from Ordnance Survey as a supply in GML format. Loading GML into most GIS applications requires the use of third-party translation software, which is not covered in this guide. If more information is required in the loading of GML format, please
Loading CSV into ArcGIS Pro
Note - These instructions are based on ArcGIS Pro version 2.3.3.
Note - When using CSV data in ArcGIS Pro, it is necessary to have column headings. Please ensure that headings have already been prepared as instructed .
Launch ArcGIS Pro and start a new blank project.
Loading CSV into ArcGIS Desktop
Note - These instructions are based on ArcGIS Desktop versions 9.3 and 10.
Note - When using CSV data in ArcGIS , it is necessary to have column headings. Please ensure that headings have already been prepared as instructed .
Launch ArcCatalog as a separate program, or within ArcMap if you are using version 10.
Loading CSV into MapInfo Pro
Note - These instructions are based on MapInfo Pro 2023.
Note – Some versions of MapInfo has a size limit of 2Gb on each table. This equates to a maximum number of approximately 4 million AddressBase records. However it is possible to extend this, please refer to the MapInfo support guide for further information.
Note - When using CSV data in MapInfo, it is not a critical requirement to have column headings. However, for ease of use we recommend using the headings supplied by Ordnance Survey. Instructions on how to merge the data and append the header files can be found in .
Loading CSV into QGIS
Note - These instructions are based on QGIS version 2.6.
Launch QGIS and click Settings > Options.
Loading CSV into a database
This section describes how to load AddressBase products into a few common databases.
Software dependencies:
ArcMap, ArcGIS Desktop and ArcGIS Server software do not support the BIGINT/NUMBER data type as an Object ID. Bear this in mind if the expectation is to use this data type directly with these ESRI products. An alternative method to facilitate using ESRI software is to store this data as a string and add a new Serial ID to act as the Object ID.
If you are loading AddressBase data directly into a database, you may need to increase the column length to accommodate language characters such as '^'. Some databases treat this as an additional character and therefore, if you define the column length according to our specification, there is a chance that the load may fail. Please bear in mind such adjustments may be required depending on the database you use to load the data.
UPRN deletions:
If a UPRN is deleted and then reinserted, this does not compromise the integrity of the UPRN and its use as a primary key. If a delete is issued for a UPRN, this does not mean it will not reappear in subsequent supplies.
These are the reasons why this may happen:
The record has moved in location more than once, moving it out of your Area of Interest (AOI), hence the deletion, but then moved back into your AOI in the future. This would also occur if you altered your AOI.
A record has failed data validation upon a change being made. This can result, dependent on the change being made, in the record being deleted and then reintroduced when the error is fixed by the data supplier.
If a UPRN is deleted, it will not be reallocated to a different property and it therefore remains the unique identifier for a property.
Loading CSV into a PostGreSQL database
Note - These steps describe how to load AddressBase into a PostGreSQL database using the text files created by following the instructions in to merge the CSV files.
Note - These instructions are based on PostGreSQL version 1.12.3 and assume that you have set-up your database with the PostGIS spatial extension. It is recommended that you have basic understanding of database terminology before following this guide.
Prepare the text files as described in
Loading CSV into an Oracle database
Note - These instructions assume a basic knowledge of Oracle databases and SQLLDR (the package used to load the CSV files into the database). Other options are available for loading data into Oracle databases.
Using SQLLDR it is not necessary to merge all the AddressBase files into a single file, but it can load the data directly from the file provided as long as it has been unzipped first.
The following steps describe one method for loading a full supply of the data. Sections in italics denote where changes will need to be made to accommodate local file naming.
Loading CSV into Microsoft SQL Server
Note - The following instructions assume that users have basic knowledge of Microsoft SQL Server and that the CSV data is already prepared as described in .
Note – There are many ways to load AddressBase products into Microsoft SQL Server; this is just one suggested method for guidance.
Open the SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS).
We recommend merging all the CSV files together to save time importing individual files.
You can do this manually using a text editor such as Notepad or TextPad, but it is much faster to use a .bat batch file or an MS-DOS command as described below.
To use the .bat batch function, copy the following text and paste it into a new Notepad document:
copy *.csv mergedABdata.csv
In this example, mergedABdata.csv is the output name of the merged file which will be created, but this can be any user-defined filename with the extension .csv.
Save the Notepad document with the file extension .bat (for example, mergedABdata.bat) in the same directory as the CSV files unzipped previously (for example, C:\AddressBase_Data or C:\AddressBase_Plus_Data).
Close the .bat file and navigate to the directory where you just saved it. Double-click on the .bat file (for example, mergedABdata.bat) and an MS-DOS window will run. Once the process is complete, the MS-DOS screen will close automatically.
If you look in the directory containing the AddressBase CSV files and batch file, you’ll see that there is now an additional single file called mergedABdata.csv(or the user-defined filename you picked when creating your batch file).
For AddressBase Plus and AddressBase Plus Islands data, copy the relevant text below and paste it into a new Notepad document:
as the file that contains the AddressBase data merged into a single CSV file created above. If you have named this something else, amend that text above accordingly.
The order that the documents are referred to in the above text is also important as it states which file is appended to the other. In this instance, the headers CSV file comes first so that the column headers are the first line of the final AddressBase file and the merged data is appended to the column headers.
Save the above Notepad document with the file extension .bat (for example, append.bat) in the same directory as the column headers and the merged AddressBase data (for example, C:\AddressBase_Dataor C:\AddressBase_Plus_Dataor C:\AddressBase_Plus_Islands_Data).
Close the .bat file and navigate to the directory where it was saved to (for example, C:\AddressBase_Data or C:\AddressBase_Plus_Data). Double-click on the new .bat file (for example, append.bat) and an MS-DOS window will open. Once the process is complete, the MS-DOS screen will close automatically.
Navigate to the directory where the column headers and the merged AddressBase data are located. You will see that a new CSV file has been created, which is the merged column headers and AddressBase data (for example, AddressBase.csvor AddressBase_Plus.csv).
Select a folder to save the project to.
ArcGIS Pro Select a folder dialog
Name your project and click OK. The project will then be created.
Note - ArcGIS Pro automatically creates a new File Geodatabase (.gdb) within the project folder created. This is different to the creation process in the older ESRI application ArcMap.
ArcGIS Pro Create a New Project dialog
You can add a backdrop map for contextual purposes from the available backdrop maps supplied by ESRI or add one of your own from a different File Geodatabase.
In this example, we have added a light grey backdrop map canvas supplied by ESRI.
ArcGIS Pro UI showing backdrop map
Open the Catalogpane on the right-hand side of the window and expand the listing to see the File Geodatabase created with the project.
ArcGIS Pro UI showing File Geodatabase Catalog pane
To import the AddressBase or AddressBase Plus data, right-click the File Geodatabase, then select Import and from that sub-menu, select Table. A new Geoprocessing window will display in the right-hand pane.
Click the folder icon on the right-hand side of the Input Rowsfield. A new dialog will open.
ArcGIS Pro UI showing Geoprocessing window
Navigate to the location with the merged AddressBase or AddressBase Plus CSV file with the appended headers that you created in Preparing the CSV data. Select the file and click OK.
ArcGIS Pro Input Rows dialog
Back in the Geoprocessing window, type a name in the Output Namefield, then click Run at the bottom of the window.
ArcGIS Pro UI showing Geoprocessing window
Once the process has run, a green box will display at the bottom of the Geoprocessing window and the new AddressBase table will be listed in the left-hand panel.
ArcGIS Pro UI showing new table in Geoprocessing window
The data has loaded as a non-geometry table.
To make the data visible against the mapping backdrop, the XY Coordinate fields need to be specified.
In the Contents pane, right-click the AB_Plus table (or the output name you chose) and in the dropdown click Display XY data.
ArcGIS Pro UI showing Contents pane
In the Geoprocessing window, the XY Table To Pointparameters will be displayed.
Using the dropdown options, change the X Field to X_COORDINATE or Longitude and the Y Field to Y_COORDINATE or Latitude.
Change the Coordinate System to British_National_Grid by clicking the globe icon .
Then select Projected Co-ordinate Systems > National Grids > Europe > British National Grid.
Note – If you selected X and Y as Longitude and Latitude in the step above, then you need to select ETRS89 [EPSG: 4258] instead.
Click Run.
Once the process has run, a green box will appear at the bottom of the Geoprocessing window and the output XYTableToPoint map layer should appear ticked on the left-hand Contents pane. In the Map window, the addresses will now be displayed as point features.
ArcGIS Pro UI showing address data on the backdrop map
You have now successfully loaded the data in ArcGIS Pro.
Connect to a folder where the AddressBase data you wish to use can be accessed, for example, C:\AddressBase_Data or C:\AddressBase_Plus_Data. To do this:
Click File, or select Folder Connections if you are using version 10.
Click Connect Folder, or in version 10, right-click on Folder connections > Connect Folder and navigate to the relevant folder.
From the main window, select the folder to connect to and click OK.
The folder should now appear in the navigation window to the left of the screen, or within your Catalog window if you have opened it within ArcGIS Map.
Create a File Geodatabase to store the address data. Using the file tree, go to folder connections and navigate to the directory where you wish to create the File Geodatabase, for example: C:\AddressBase_Geodatabase\AddressBase_Plus. This may need to be set up as a new connection as per the above.
Right-click on the folder where you the File Geodatabase should to be contained, then select New and File Geodatabase.
A File Geodatabase will be created and named by default as New File Geodatabase. Rename the File Geodatabase to a name of your choice.
Right-click on your new File Geodatabase, and select Import > Table (single)…
For Input Rows, navigate to the location of the CSV data file that contains the merged header and AddressBase or AddressBase Plus data file.
The Output Location should automatically populate with the location of the File Geodatabase that is to be updated; this should be the File Geodatabase you created above.
Insert a relevant name for the Output Table, for example: AddressBase_data. Ensure that there are no spaces in the table name. This name will appear under your geodatabase.
Click OK.
To create a map of the locations of the AddressBase records, they need to be geocoded.
Right-click on the AddressBase table in the geodatabase that you have just created and select Create Feature Class.
In the XY Table… window, you can use the dropdowns to change the X Field to either X_COORDINATE or Longitude, and the Y Field to Y_COORDINATE or Latitude.
Click on the Input Coordinates icon and navigate to Projected Co-ordinate Systems > National Grids > Europe > British National Grid.
Note – If you selected X and Y as Longitude and Latitude in the step above, then you need to select ETRS89 [EPSG: 4258] instead.
Double-click on the chosen Coordinate System, then click Apply and OK.
Click on the folder icon alongside the Output field and navigate to the File Geodatabase you just created above. If you cannot see the File Geodatabase, ensure that the Save as type box at the bottom of the dialog box is set to File and Personal Geodatabase feature classes.
Type in a name for it and click Save.
Leave the Configuration keyword dropdown menu as DEFAULTS. Click OK.
Note – You may need to right-click on the Personal Geodatabase where it was saved and select Refresh in order to see your points.
At this stage, if you have completed the steps above in ArcCatalog and not within ArcMap, please continue to follow the steps below. Otherwise, if you have been using version 10 with the catalog inside ArcMap, the data can now be loaded into ArcMap.
In ArcMap, select File > Add Data and navigate to the folder where the File Geodatabase was created above.
Double-click on the File Geodatabase to open it, then select all the files inside.
Click Add.
Once the data has been loaded into ArcMap, you may wish to display more than the ESRI-defined Object ID in the Info tool. To change this:
Double-click on the spatial dataset.
Select the Fields tab.
Change the Primary Display Field to your desired field, for example, UPRN.
Launch MapInfo.
Home > Open Table and navigate to the folder that contains the AddressBase data.
In the Files of Type dropdown menu, select Comma delimited CSV (*.csv), then click on the AddressBase data to be loaded. Click Open.
In the next window, tick the Use First Line for Column Titles box and select the character set INSERT CHARACTER SET. Click OK.
Note – When adding data this way, the field type classifications and field sizes of each column automatically try to fit the type of data that MapInfo believes is contained within the column and the largest value of that classification found within that column. This means that the classifications and field sizes of some attributes may not match the field types and sizes stated in the Technical Specification. The following instructions outline how to change these columns to match those values:
Select Home > Save > Save Copy As… and select the AddressBase table that was loaded. Select Save As… and name the table to be created, then click Save.
Open the table that was just created via File > Open. Navigate to and select the copy of the table you just named. Click Open.
Navigate to Table>Modify Structureand select the table to be edited. Click OK.
Here you can change the Type and Width of each attribute to match the ones stated in the technical specification:
Type and Width should be changed for all attributes, apart from the following (due to software-specific dependencies):
UPRN should be classified as Float.
All attributes that have a Field Type of Date in the technical specification should be classified as Character with a length of 10.
After all changes have been made, click OK.
To create a map of the location of the AddressBase records, they need to be geocoded:
Ensure the table of AddressBase records that you wish to geocode is open, then navigate to Spatial > Create > Create Points.
Select the table you wish to geocode from the Create Points for Table dropdown menu.
Expand the Get X Coordinates from Column dropdown menu and select either X_Coordinate or Longitude.
Expand the Get Y Coordinates from Column dropdown menu and select either Y_Coordinate or Latitude.
Click on the Projection icon, then select the British Coordinate Systems option from the Category dropdown menu. Select the British National Grid [EPSG: 27700], or if you selected Longitude and Latitude in the steps above, select ETRS89 [EPSG: 4258].
Click OK to close that window and OK again to close the next window.
Finally, click Window > New Map Window to view the loaded geocoded points.
Select CRS from the left-hand menu and check that the Coordinate Reference System is set to British National Grid.
Note - Check this is set for both Default CRS for new projects and the CRS for new layers sections. If these are not already set, click Select at the end of each section and type 27700 into the Filter Box to find and select British National Grid. Alternatively, if you intend to use Latitude and Longitude columns, select ETRS89 [EPSG: 4258].
QGIS Options | CRS dialog
Click OK.
Back in the QGIS UI, go to Layer and select Add Delimited Text Layer.
Click Browse next to the filename and locate the CSV file that was created in Preparing the CSV data, containing the merged header files and AddressBase data.
Select the CSV file and click Open.
Accept the default or create a new layer name for the dataset.
Ensure that the First record has field names box is ticked.
For Field Options, select Decimal separator is comma.
For Geometry Definition, select Point Coordinates.
You should now be able to select the X_Coordinate field for the X Field dropdown and the Y_Coordinate field for the Y Field dropdown if this was not done automatically. Alternatively, if you wish to use the Latitude and Longitude columns, the Longitude column needs to be inserted into the X_COORDINATE field, and the Latitude column needs to be inserted into the Y_COORDINATE field.
Click OK.
.
Check that there are no carriage returns (extra rows) at the end of the CSV output file as this will result in errors. To do this, open the CSV file and hit End on your keyboard. Your cursor should now be at the end of the last line, and not on any extra line below. If it is on the line below, hit Delete to remove the extra empty row.
Open the PGAdmin tool (this can be found in Windows Start Menu > PostGreSQL).
Either connect to an existing database or create a new database. It is recommended that the encoding is set to UTF-8.
Open the public schema (although in a production environment, it is advised to use a different schema) and create the tables using the following steps:
This SQL file can be opened in a text editor, and the SQL scripts within it can be copied and pasted into the SQL query tool within PostGreSQL.
Once the table has been created, the data can be loaded into each table using the SQL COPY. Adding the CSV option as the first line contains a header record for each table.
Please note that the examples below are for AddressBase, then AddressBase Plus and AddressBase Plus Islands, respectively. The path and filename may need to be changed to reflect your data set-up:
COPY addressbase FROM 'C:/Address/AddressBase.csv' DELIMITER ', ' CSV HEADER;COPY addressbase_plus FROM 'C:/Address/AddressBase_Plus.csv' DELIMITER ', ' CSV HEADER;COPY addressbase_plus_islands FROM 'C:/Address/AddressBase_Plus_Islands.csv' DELIMITER ', ' CSV HEADER;
Once loaded, you may want to add Primary Keys to the data. However, these can only be added on columns where the data values are unique. Where there are no unique data values, an index may be added which will aid searching. The UPRN provides the only unique value in AddressBase and AddressBase Plus.
Primary Keys are added using the following steps:
Right-click on the table name and select Properties.
Select the Constraints tab.
Click the + to add a new primary key.
Click the edit icon .
Enter a name to call the key under the general tab (for example, Key1).
Under the definition tab, select UPRN or any other unique value from the dropdown under columns.
Click Save.
You can also index the data by following these steps:
Right-click on the table name and select Create > Index.
Under general, enter a name (for example, Idx1).
Under the definition tab > Columns, click the +.
Select the UPRN for example, or any other unique value.
Click Save.
Converting coordinates to geometry
A PostGIS extension is required to create geometries. The AddressBase products contain both British National Grid (BNG) and ETRS89 coordinates. The SQL below shows how to create a column for BNG, but it can be altered to utilise the ETRS89 data.
Add a geometry column called geomto make the data usable in a GIS:
SELECT AddGeometryColumn ('public', 'addressbase_plus', 'geom', 27700, 'POINT', 2);
Load the data into your new geometry column:
UPDATE public.addressbase_plus SET geom = ST_GeomFromText('POINT(' || x_coordinate || ' ' || y_coordinate || ') ', 27700);
This sets the geom column in the table to equal the values from the X_coordinate and Y_coordinate columns, with the spatial reference defined as 27700.
Create a spatial index on the data using:
CREATE INDEX idx_abp_geom ON public.addressbase_plus USING gist(geom);
This adds the index name idx_abp_geom to the same table on the geom column.
Copy the data files from the disk to an appropriate location. It is worth noting that the files will need to be unzipped and therefore you will need in the region of 43Gb of free space.
Once the data is copied, the next stage is to unzip the *.zip files to *.csv. This can be done using a package such as Winzip or 7Zip. Please see the data supply page for more information.
With all the files unzipped, the latter stages are easier if you create a list of all the CSV files to be loaded. This can be done using a batch file that writes all the files out to a text file:
dir *.csv /b/s >filelisting.txt pauseThis file will form the basis for loading the control file in a later step.
Open the folder of your chosen product and you should see three files. Open the file ending createtable.sqlin a text editor.
Within the provided SQL there are references to <TablespaceName>, which need to be changed to the tablespace that is being worked in. When these are changed, copy and paste the SQL into Oracle to create the tables.
Next, create a SQLLDR control file. An example of one of these files is Oracle AddressBase_Control.ctl, which is provided in the folder of the GitHub repository in Step 4 above. Open the SQLLDR control file for your chosen product in a text editor.
Within the file you will see lines referencing INFILE. Populate these INFILElines with the file listing created in Step 3, with one INFLEcommand for each file.
This tells the process to open each of the files and carry out the other tasks listed below it.Note – The last section of the control file creates the Geometry for the X and Y coordinate (British National Grid) if you want to create a Geometry for the Latitude and Longitude values, this will need to be created separately.
Once this file is created, it can be called from a .bat file to run it on the box that holds the database rather than a remote machine. If you wish to run it from a remote machine, contact your Oracle Administrator who will be able to advise on the best way to do this within your environment. The contents of the .bat file should be similar to the following:
@sqlldr <username>/<password>@<service name> control= <name of ctl file created previously> Pause
Once the load has completed the relevant indexes need to be built. The SQL statements to create the indexes can be found in the same GitHub repository linked in Step 4 above.
As before, you can copy and paste the SQL statements from a text editor into Oracle to create the indexes. The example table name provided may be different to yours, so check if this needs to be changed before use.
Right-click on the database you are loading into and select Properties.
Select Options on the left-hand side.
Expand the dropdown box for Recovery Model and select Bulk-logged.
This minimises the logfile size, otherwise the default logging for Microsoft SQL Server can cause logfiles to grow over 20Gb and this can cause issues with loading.
SQL Server Database Properties dialog
Open the SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) and right-click your database from the left-hand panel.
Navigate to Tasks and click Import Data. This will open the SQL Server Import and Export Wizard.
Click Next.
On the next screen, change your Data Source to Flat File Source.
Use the Browse button to navigate to your CSV file and select it.
If you cannot see your files, ensure that the bottom right dropdown box has CSV files (*.csv) selected.
Click Open.
Your CSV file should have a header row already prepared in Preparing the CSV data. Ensure the Column names in the first data row is ticked.
Check that the Text Qualifier is set to a double quote (“).
This is to make sure that the quotations in the raw data supply are removed upon loading but that the data remains intact.
On the left-hand side of this screen, select Columns and check that the Column delimiter is set to Comma.
On the left-hand side of the screen, select Advanced.
For each column of data you are loading, you will need to specify a DataType. The Microsoft SQL Server loader defaults each column to a String. The correct Data Type for each column is given in the technical specification:
Once you have changed the Data Types for each column to match those given in the technical specification, click Next.
Check that your table is going to be imported into the correct database and click Next.
On this screen, you can edit the default table name that Microsoft SQL Server has chosen by clicking in the destination box. For example, for AddressBase Plus renaming to [dbo].[ADDRESSBASE_PLUS].
Select Edit Mappings in the bottom right-hand corner.
In the new window, you must remove the tick in the checkbox against the UPRN column, which needs to be the Primary Key of the table. Click OK once the Primary Key alterations have been completed.
Click Next. On this screen, you can check that the Source column and Destination columns are correct.
Click Next. A summary of your import will display. If you want to continue, click Finish.
A report will be generated as your data is imported. Success should appear at the top once complete.
You may need to right-click on your database and click Refresh to see your new table listed.
Setting Primary Keys
To create a Primary Key field, you can run an SQL statement, such as this example for AddressBase Plus below.
Note - the columns you are creating these constraints on cannot be null or allowed to be null.
Creating the point geometry
You can also create point geometry using the X and Y coordinates or the Latitude and Longitude coordinate values. This is achieved by running the following SQL statement:
Note – This is using British National Grid coordinates, with 27700 representing the spatial reference of the data. To use the Latitude and Longitude coordinate, the spatial reference should be set to 4258 for ETRS89.
The AddressBase products provide a variety of data fields, allowing you to construct different forms of an address for a given addressable object, dependent on how the address is to be used.
AddressBase contains the Delivery Point Address which is sourced from Royal Mail’s Postcode Address File (PAF) – a non-geocoded list of addresses. These addresses are used primarily as a ‘mailing list’ for postal purposes.
There are two types of address contained in the AddressBase Plus products:
Delivery Point Address
Geographic Address
These two address types come from different sources and are matched together by GeoPlace.
As noted above, the Delivery Point Address is sourced from Royal Mail’s PAF data. Geographic Addresses are maintained by contributing Local Authorities. The structure of a Geographic Address is based on the British Standard BS7666. These addresses are used to provide an accurate geographic locator for an object to support, for example, service delivery, asset management, or command and control operations. They also represent the legal form of addresses as created under street naming and numbering legislation.
Each UPRN in AddressBase Plus provides the Geographic Address and, where matched, the Delivery Point Address in a one-to-one relationship. If there is no match, then the following fields will be left empty:
DEPARTMENT_NAME
Background
A common requirement for customers using the AddressBase products is to build a single address label from core address elements.
There are two types of address label. The simplest is a full address on a single line with different elements separated by commas and spaces. This type of label is suited for displaying a full address within a tabular display, such as within an on-screen data grid or spreadsheet, or where a single-line printed address is most appropriate (such as within the text, header or footer of a letter):
ROSE COTTAGE, 5 MAIN STREET, ADDRESSVILLE, LONDON, SE99 9EX
The other type of formatted address is a multi-line address label. These are most often used on envelopes or at the tops of letters, where different parts of an address are separated onto different lines:
This guide outlines a methodology for structuring and layering a single address label, providing suggested logic to build both the Delivery Point and Geographic Address. The logic in is applicable to AddressBase, AddressBase Plus and AddressBase Plus Islands. The logic in is only applicable to AddressBase Plus and AddressBase Plus Islands.
The rules in this guide are suggestions only and can be used for visual display of full addresses. It is strongly recommended that address components are stored in the format in which they are provided in order to allow maximum flexibility of use and derived value.
Delivery Point Address (PAF Address)
A Delivery Point Address contains information sourced from Royal Mail (PAF). Stringent rules are used to match these addresses to the Geographic Address and assign a common UPRN to link addresses from the two addressing sources together in the data model.
To construct a single address label based purely on the Royal Mail PAF address fields, the following attributes can be used to build a Delivery Point Address label.
The table below provides details of the Delivery Point Address Components.
Delivery Point Address Component
Type
These address components are listed in the correct order in which they should appear on an address label. There may be a business need to replace the thoroughfare, locality and post_town attributes with the Welsh equivalent. The following examples use the English version of these attributes only.
It should be noted that most of the PAF fields are optional and may contain null values (or zero, in the cases of ‘BUILDING NUMBER’ and ‘PO BOX NUMBER’). In these cases, those fields should be omitted.
The following (entirely fictional) example shows all of the PAF fields filled in (apart from the PO Box number) and indicates how they should be ordered in a single address label.
Delivery Point Address Component
Example
In cases where a PO BOX NUMBER is present, it will only be described in the data as an integer. In order to properly format these addresses when generating an address label, these integers should be prefixed with the text ‘PO BOX’, as shown in the following example:
Delivery Point Address Component
Data Content
Formatted output
Where null or empty, string values exist (for character fields) or zeros or nulls (for integer fields), those fields should be entirely omitted from the output. However, the order in which the fields should be concatenated always remains the same.
Delivery Point Address Component
Data content
Formatted output
Building a single-line Delivery Point Address
Building a single-line, formatted address for a Delivery Point is relatively straightforward. All the fields should be checked in the order shown previously in Table 1, and those that have values should be concatenated together into a single line. Generally, address components should be separated by a comma followed by a single space (‘, ’), although sometimes only a space is used between a building number and a thoroughfare name. You can use your preference.
An example of SQL logic to create a single-line Delivery Point Address is on our GitHub repository which should be used under the following considerations:
The SQL operator for concatenating text is a double pipe (‘||’).
CASE blocks have been used to test each of the fields for null values before concatenating its contents (along with a suitable separator – either ‘, ’ or ‘ ’).
The field names and table names used are illustrative and may vary between databases.
Building a multi-line Delivery Point Address
Splitting a Delivery Point Address into multiple lines is more complicated. There are several rules to consider in order to avoid having very short lines (for example, just a building number) or very long lines within the formatted address. A summary of these rules is as follows:
Generally, if there is a building number, it should appear on the same line as the thoroughfare (or dependent thoroughfare) name. If there is no thoroughfare name information, it should appear on the same line as the first locality name.
In cases where building numbers have been placed in the building name field due to the presence of a letter suffix (for example, ‘11A’) or a number range separator (for example, ‘3–5’), these should be detected and placed on the same line as the thoroughfare name in the same way as a building number (or on the first locality line if no thoroughfare name is present).
In most other cases, the building name, if present, should appear on a separate line above the thoroughfare (or dependent thoroughfare) name. If there is no thoroughfare name present, it should appear on the same line as the first locality name.
Geographic Address (Local Authority Address)
The structure of a Geographic Address is based on the British Standard BS7666 and is split into several components. This means that in order to construct a complete address label (for example, on an envelope, database form or GIS display), the components need to be constructed according to a set of rules.
Within the AddressBase Plus products, the core property level address information is stored within the Primary Addressable Object (PAO) and Secondary Addressable Object (SAO) fields. The additional attribution required to build a full address label are the la_organisation, street_description, locality, town_name, administrative_area and postcode_locator.
For a full description of PAOs and SAOs, and the complete set of AddressBase Plus fields, please refer to the Technical Specification on your respective product:
Constructing a single address label from the Geographic Address fields
To construct a single address label based purely on the BS7666 address fields, the following attributes should be used to build a Geographic Address label.
Geographic Address Component
Type
*ADMINISTRATIVE_AREA is optional because it is common for this field to be the same as the TOWN_NAME. Sometimes, however, this field will help users construct a more complete address.
These address components are listed in the correct order in which they should appear on an address label. There may be a business need to use alternate language fields for the SAO_TEXT, PAO_TEXT and STREET_DESCRIPTION, which are also listed in the correct order above.
Rendering SAOs and PAOs
When building a single address label, it may be necessary to concatenate the various SAO fields and PAO fields together respectively. These fields contain any property names, numbers, number ranges or suffixes that apply to an address.
A PAO number/range string should be constructed from the PAO_START_NUMBER, PAO_START_SUFFIX, PAO_ END_NUMBER and PAO_END_SUFFIX fields, as illustrated in the following table.
Attribute
Example 1
Example 2
Example 3
Example 4
Similarly, a SAO number/range string should be constructed from the SAO_START_NUMBER, SAO_START_SUFFIX, SAO_END_NUMBER and SAO_END_SUFFIX fields, as illustrated in the following table.
In addition to the numeric range fields described above, there are also PAO_text and SAO_text fields. These fields may be populated instead of, or as well as, the numeric range fields. In both cases, if both text and a numeric range string are present, the text should appear before the numeric range in any formatted address.
Attribute
Example 1
Example 2
Example 3
Example 4
For PAOs, there will always be either a text entry or a numeric/range entry, or both. This is not the case for SAOs, which may be entirely absent for a given address.
Street description, town, locality and administrative area names
The street description and administrative area names are always present, while the locality name and town name may be empty.
The ADMINISTRATIVE_AREA field always contains a value; however, this value will not always enhance an address, but in some cases it will. In particular, check that it is not the same as the value in the TOWN_NAME field, as this is often the case.
Administrative area not included
vs
Administrative area included (BURY)
In other cases, the administrative area name will simply contain the local authority name, which would not traditionally form part of a single or multi-line address but can be included to add additional information to an address label. Its inclusion is largely down to business requirements or personal preference; however, it may also be useful to 'de-duplicate' some Geographic Addresses.
The following (entirely fictional) example shows all of the BS7666 Geographic Address fields filled in and how they should be ordered in a single address label.
Geographic Address Component
Example
*The number/range strings are built from the relevant PAO/SAO START_NUMBER, START_SUFFIX, END_NUMBER and END_SUFFIX fields, as described above, and formatted as character strings.
Where an administrative area matches the town name, it should always be omitted.
Delivery Point Address Component
Data content
Formatted output
Where null or empty string values exist (for character fields) or zeros or nulls (for integer fields), those fields should be entirely omitted from the output; however, the order in which the fields should be concatenated always remains the same.
Delivery Point Address Component
Data content
Formatted output
Building a single-line Geographic Address
Building a single-line, formatted address for a Geographic Address is slightly more complicated than for a Delivery Point Address due to the need to preformat the SAO and PAO number/range strings. However, once this is done, the process is largely the same as before: the calculated fields should be checked in the order shown previously in , and those that have values should be concatenated together into a single line. Generally, address components should be separated by a comma followed by a single space (‘, ’), although sometimes only a space is used between a PAO number/range string and a street description. This is down to personal preference.
Example SQL logic to create a single-line Geographic Address can be found , which should be used under the following considerations:
The SQL operator for concatenating text is a double pipe (‘||’).
CASE blocks have been used to test each of the fields for null values before concatenating its contents (along with a suitable separator – either ‘, ’ or ‘ ’).
The field names and table names used are illustrative and may vary between databases.
Building a multi-line Geographic Address
Splitting a Geographic Address into multiple lines is more complex. As with Delivery Point Addresses, there are several rules to consider in order to avoid having very short lines (for example, just a building number) or very long lines within the formatted address.
A summary of these rules is as follows:
Generally, if there is a PAO number/range string, it should appear on the same line as the Street Description. For example: 11A MAIN STREET
If there is a PAO_text value, it should always appear on the line above the Street Name (or on the line above the <PAO number string> + <Street Name> where there is a PAO number/range).
Creating mailing lists
Given that AddressBase Plus contains two different types of address, a decision needs to be made as to whether to use the Geographic or Delivery Point Addresses, or a mixture.
The following two options should be considered:
Use Delivery Point Addresses whenever they are available, and when they are not, use a Geographic Address.
Use Geographic Addresses in all cases.
Depending on business requirements, in some user interfaces it may be worth considering displaying both forms of an address where possible, since this will provide the maximum information available about a given UPRN.
‘Mixing and matching’ components from the two different forms of address into a single address label is not recommended as this is likely to cause confusion in some instances.
Other filters
AddressBase Plus offers other attributes that could be used in conjunction with address labels. For example, classification can be used to target certain types of property, or OS MasterMap Topography TOID cross references can be used to link address labels to Topographic objects and viewed in a GIS.
TOID cross references are not available in AddressBase Plus Islands.
alter table dbo.ADDRESSBASE_PLUS add primary key ([UPRN]);
alter table dbo.ADDRESSBASE_PLUS
add geometry_column as geometry::Point([X_Coordinate],[Y_Coordinate], 27700);
Depending on the database schema and data loading method used, it may be necessary to test some fields for empty strings (‘’) or zero values (for integer fields) instead of, or as well as, testing for NULLs.
If you are using PostGres (PostGIS), it might be beneficial to substitute the ‘IS NOT NULL’ with != ‘’. This should improve the overall appearance of the output.
Similar tests should be applied to the SUB_BUILDING_NAME field: if this field contains a number, a number with a suffix, or a numeric range, it should precede the building name on the same line. In most other cases, it should appear on a separate line above the building name.
Depending on the database schema and data loading method used, it may be necessary to test some fields for empty strings (‘’) or zero values (for integer fields) instead of or as well as testing for NULLs.
ROSE COTTAGE, 11A MAIN STREET
If there is a SAO_text value, it should appear on a separate line above the PAO_text line (or the PAO number/range + Street Name where there is no PAO_text value).
SAO_text value only, with PAO_text value only
SAO_text value only, with PAO number/range only
THE ANNEXE, ROSE COURT, MAIN STREET
THE ANNEXE, 11A MAIN STREET
If there is a SAO number/range value, it should be inserted either on the same line as the PAO_text (if there is a PAO_text value), or on the same line as the PAO number/range + Street Name (if there is only a PAO number/range value and no PAO_text value). If there are both PAO_text and a PAO number/range, then the SAO number/range should appear on the same line as the PAO_text, and the PAO number/range should appear on the street line.
SAO number/range value only, and PAO_text value only
SAO number/range value only, and PAO number/range value only
SAO number/range value only, and both PAO_text and PAO number/range values
1A ROSE COURT, MAIN STREET
1-3, 11A MAIN STREET
If there is a SAO_text value, it should always appear on its own line.
SAO_text value only with PAO_text only
SAO_text and SAO number/range and PAO_text and PAO number/range
THE ANNEXE, ROSE COTTAGE, MAIN STREET
WARDEN’S FLAT,
1A ROSE COURT,
11A MAIN STREET
If there is an Organisation Name, it should always appear alone as the top line of the address.
Organisation Name along with all PAO + SAO fields
COTTAGE INDUSTRY LTD, THE ANNEXE,
1A ROSE COURT,
11A MAIN STREET
The Locality (if present) should appear on a separate line beneath the Street Description, followed by the Town Name on the line below it. If there is no Locality, the Town Name should appear alone on the line beneath the Street Description.
Locality and Town Name present
Town Name only
[first part of address, formatted as described above] MAIN STREET,
HIGHFIELD, SOUTHAMPTON
[first part of address, formatted as described above] HIGH STREET,
SOUTHAMPTON
If the Administrative Area name is required and it is not a duplicate of the Town Name, it can optionally be included on a separate line beneath the Town Name.
Administrative Area name included
[first part of address, formatted as described above] MAIN STREET,
WINDSOR,
ROYAL BOROUGH OF WINDSOR AND MAIDENHEAD
Finally, the Postcode Locator should be inserted on the final line of the address.
With Postcode_Locator on final line
[first part of address, formatted as described above] HIGH STREET,
The following page details the current local custodian codes of all local custodians contributing to the AddressBase, AddressBase Core, AddressBase Plus and AddressBase Premium products.
The local custodian codes listed in the zip file and table below are applicable to the AddressBase, AddressBase Core, AddressBase Plus and AddressBase Premium products.
They are not applicable to the AddressBase Plus Islands or AddressBase Premium Islands products; local custodian codes for these two islands products are available from the AddressBase Islands local custodian codes page.
Local custodian codes available on this page were last updated on 10 March 2026
Local custodian codes download
Local custodian code data is available to download in CSV format in the following zip file:
