Over the past few months, key stakeholders in the residential property sector have been working together to promote the adoption and use of the Unique Property Reference Number (UPRN). A number of industry organisations / bodies in this space are supporting a statement which has been published and sent directly to MHCLG today,12th January 2021. We are now inviting the support of companies in the block management sector. You can see in the orange box below, a list of the organisations and companies that support this initiative.
What is the UPRN?
The UPRN is the Unique Property Reference Number and was created by the Ordnance Survey (OS). Every unit of land and property is allocated a Unique Property Reference Number (UPRN) and geographic coordinates, ensuring there is one true record for each address.
The UPRN is already being used by the emergency services, government, flood defence and many other bodies to ensure that data is accurate and consistent across all media. You can find the UPRN of all properties at Find My Address. Every local authority in the UK has a statutory obligation to manage and maintain their address register and submits their address register (including the UPRN) to GeoPlace.
This is not solely for houses or even buildings! It may be an object that might not have a ‘normal’ address – such as a Postbox, bus shelter or an electricity substation for example. UPRNs provide every property (or object) with a consistent 12-digit identifier throughout its lifecycle, from planning through to demolition.
The UPRN will soon become highly relevant to the block management sector. The requirement for Dame Judith Hackett's ‘Building Safety File’ and a resident engagement strategy will result in sets of data coming down through the construction process (the Golden Thread) or gathered retrospectively for the Building Safety File, for the regulator and the residents’ information pack. These data sets, held by the property manager/Building Safety Manager will be called upon by regulators and enforcement agencies, selling and letting agents, mortgage lenders and valuers.
Attaching the UPRN to data such as construction information, safety records, mortgages, tenancy deposit schemes and more will make the collation and dissemination of key information to stakeholders far simpler and cheaper, also easier to automate, reducing the burden on managers, improving the home buying and selling process and the targeting of rogue agents and landlords by enforcement agencies.
