Owen Boswarva's blog

This is the latest in a series of blog posts about the campaign for open address data in the UK. Previous posts are listed at the bottom.

In this post, I describe a new open address dataset released by Middlesbrough Council.

Background

As related in previous posts, I have recently been requesting Council Tax address datasets from a number of local authorities in England, and asking for permission to re-use the data under the terms of the Open Government Licence.

I have created a landing page on my Datadaptive site with download links and other information about the Council Tax address datasets released as open data so far:

www.datadaptive.com/addr/

Release from Middlesbrough Council

The latest council to release its Council Tax address list is Middlesbrough Council in the North East region of England.

In its initial response, the Council disclosed most of the requested information but without the Unique Property Reference Numbers (UPRNs) corresponding to the properties on the Council Tax list. Following an internal review, the Council explained that it was withholding the UPRNs on the following basis:

"The council does not hold a single list with the requested information.
"We do not hold a dataset where URPNs and Council Tax information are recorded together and do not use UPRNs for domestic property records
"Therefore, this information is not held."

I am not very convinced by the Council's rationale. It seems clear that the Council does hold UPRNs corresponding to the properties on the list, even if all of the requested information is not held in a single list.

It is possible that the Council could append the UPRNs by compiling or extracting data from different systems. That process of compiling or extracting data will not be creation of new information, for purposes of FOI. As the ICO says in guidance:

"If you have the 'building blocks' necessary to produce a particular type of information, it is likely that you would hold that information unless it requires particular skills or expertise to put the building blocks together."

But I have not pursued the UPRNs any further as I am being selective about the cases I refer to the ICO.

The Council has confirmed permission for re-use of the disclosed information under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.

You can download my correspondence with the Council: CT_address_list_Middlesbrough_023094_023207_[NO_DATA_correspondence_only].zip (0.63 MB).

Thanks to Council staff for facilitating the disclosure and open licensing of this data.

Access to this dataset

I am not publishing Middlesbrough Council's address dataset here, due to the non-specific but lingering risk of further unsubstantiated claims of infringement from Ordnance Survey and GeoPlace LLP. You can read more about that issue in my blog post from last month.

However, there is nothing to stop you asking the Council directly for a copy of the data file. For tips on submitting access to information and re-use requests see this other blog post. My requests to Middlesbrough Council were submitted on 6 May 2026 and the Council's references are 023094 for the requests and 023207 for the internal review.

More about Middlesbrough Council's address dataset

Middlesbrough has disclosed its Council Tax address dataset to me in the form of a CSV file 'FOI 0023094.csv' that contains 66,856 records. Each record includes the full address and postcode (combined in a single field), local property reference, and Council Tax valuation band, for a domestic property in the Middlesbrough Council area.

The dataset appears to be well-maintained. Based on the chronology of the correspondence the data was produced from Council systems in the first half of May 2026.

As the Council has not disclosed the Unique Property Reference Number (UPRN) corresponding to each property on the Council Tax list, the records cannot be geocoded at property level using open data sources.

Previous posts related to the campaign for open address data in the UK

Newark and Sherwood District Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (23 June 2026)

Southend-on-Sea City Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (18 June 2026)

North East Lincolnshire Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (17 June 2026)

Knowsley Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (16 June 2026)

Conwy County Borough Council (Cyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol Conwy) has released its Council Tax address list as open data (15 June 2026)

Stratford-on-Avon District Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (12 June 2026)

Chichester District Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (11 June 2026)

Enfield Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (10 June 2026)

Central Bedfordshire Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (5 June 2026)

Herefordshire Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (4 June 2026)

Test Valley Borough Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (3 June 2026)