Talk:Key:ref:NPLG:UPRN:1

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The following entry relates to the page Key:ref:NPLG:UPRN:1 with further information on the NLPG & LLPG system.

I'm currently learning this wiki system so I might move it new pages in future to fit better with rest. --Govanus (talk) 18:36, 23 April 2014 (UTC)



This tag is used to give the first of a list or only Universal Property Reference Number of the National Land & Property Gazetteer, in site address information. This is a government scheme in the European State of UK. The scheme is different but similar between England&Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The scheme has link via eSDI [1] to other similar schemes in Europe. The UK also looked at USA systems when working on the plans for it.

other UPRN linked through time simply have the number 1 changed for their position in the list. non UPRN entries in the NPLG substitute UPRN for their code name such as UARN (Universal Address Reference Number) and USRN (Universal Street Reference Number).

Note commercial releases of NPLG often have copywrite or licensing issues, so for the time being aren't easy to include however Wild UPRN and USRN and UARN that you may find in the public domain or displayed close to your survey sites aren't linked to you by any licensing and so can be collected like other survey data.

Also Note due to the arguments between government departments of how the licensing was set up some councils have used or release their local version LLPG [Local Land & Property Gazetteer] for just their area. these maybe being encouraged for use to reap the full benefits of the original scheme.

-I'm aware that OSM currently has tags with L and P in the wrong order the meaning was to be the same. --Govanus (talk) 17:42, 22 April 2014 (UTC)


UPRN were developed as best solution for registering properties in data stores after learning lessons with the problems created by changes over time to first house Naming (original after the current owner or use in a estate - such as home farm, to grow things mainly for the main mansion or Sedgwick's farm for the early by owners name). Street Numbering came next and was especially successful on terraces or long rows of uniform buildings, though it wasn't robust against changes when forced onto long rural lanes. Sub division and combination and reconstitution of buildings complicated street numbering in towns and in the countryside and a "clever" attempt to number odds and even to different sides (to avoid walking up a street twice - good on terraces not when slavishly followed into splits in whole rows of tower blocks down each side of a road) made postal address quite complex and eventually needing a renumbering process on some urban locations with a lot of changes and demolitions. The new numbering began to confuse record store with both editions of the number existing together, where records by virtue of processes done them didn't get reused for several decades this produced a decay of traceability resulting in confusingly "lost" records. Geographic co-ordinates were promoted but it appears the take up was too slim for a lot of government records. Postcodeing became fashionable solution for some decades but the postoffice began to change these to and then refuse to make it so easy to back trace very old post codes if you hadn't been keeping up with the change documents and eventually stated that they were for the use of Royal Mail internal purposes in delivering Mail, and derived uses weren't it's primary concern so it would change postcodes as often as it felt it needed to without needing to consult or be mindful of others non-postal needs.

So to finally solve the problem an independent code number would be assigned to all Property, land and streets etc. and that these number would be permanently linked and unchanging ever. certain changes would need separate new numbers to be assigned to the new referenced things and a central record would record the relationships between the reference numbers related by location and time also the geographic coordinates for entries were also logged and numbering to allow the things to be found easier in the future too.

Originally the reference numbers were to be added to all government records to allow easy cross referencing, especially after digitisation programs of the vast quantities of paper record the government still used. To encourage updating and leverage maximum cost benefits they were originally going to be released to the public freely so business would align there databases with the governments so that searching record combinations between them would be easy for government users.


but as the scheme made its way through from idea to really being worked on. Someone decided that the public could pay for them instead. Now this is were it became a bit fractious, because it had been determined that local councils should compile and maintain thier local areas records under the LLPG then transfer these wholesale to a new quango-company set-up to co-ordinate number ranges so they didn't overlap and so form the NLPG from the combined work of all the councils. Now it was decided that sales would be made by the new company without any proceeds going back to the councils and to force sales some applications made using the numbers compulsory. some local councils became unhappy and rebelled on this latter dictate and use the LLPG with the public free of charges to gain benefits back from external users helping in the updating process. To complicate the picture the Ordinance Survey had a revival system with TOIDs and then a successor and while people made requests for public releases on data.gov.uk the stake of the PAF's significance seemed to be worry.

Eventually a form of NPLG data blended with PAF {Postal Address File} is released in the adderess proudcts from ordinance survey in their digital mastermap series and commercial contracts for UPRN to conveying solicitors and USRN to licensed street contractors go to two successor faces of the original co-ordinating body.


So why add them to OSM then? Well collectively they provide a very good indexing reference for databases relating to UK addresses (other countries can do something similar for their local universal schemes. I think Ireland is/was going to introduce the equivalence of a Alphanumeric UPRN as their new postcode system.) Inclusion allows database users to cross-reference data they may be holding now or in the future with the topical and geographic information held on the OSM and OSM derived systems. It can help when selling the idea of using OSM data to local authorities with there databases using LLPG & NLPG data a main key; especially things like linking streetworks to active maps.

Its relateable to the inclusion of official reference for railways and the use of OSM data in the Rail industry like live tracking maps (useful for customer facing uses as the licensing is restriction free on the OSM mapping)


So where can I find them when surveying then?

If your lucky some forms of the the LLPG's covering your survey patch may already be online in search terms or even downloadable from on council websites. You may find USRN in documents published about roadworks and road changes - for events for instance. When you are out you may find them on address labels especially those derived from council lists like on items given out to residents {some of those items left can be seen in the streetscape where you can record them from; as "wild".


As UPRN never die they still will retain an afterlife value even when the properties are changed and issued with new ones though the greatest use to most companies is in tracking and handling sub-let and HMO's [Houses of Multiple Occupancy] as each subdivision gets its own unique UPRN along with a record made of all old UPRN form before the split allowing records in business to comprehend and trace back the changes more reliably and automaticly. In time phases of releases for different reasons can build up a larger (and increasingly more useful) picture of the whole. OSM is very good vehicle to collect, store and release such data to others.

--22 April 2014 22:01:14 GMT+01:00