This is the latest in my series of blog posts about the campaign for open address data in the UK. Previous posts are listed at the bottom.
This post contains the text of a short submission I have made to the Cabinet Office's call for evidence to inform the initial phase of building capability for the Seventh UK National Action Plan for Open Government (NAP7). The call for evidence closes on Monday.
This post doesn't fully capture the case for open addresses or what I think the UK Government should do in this area, but the call for evidence asked for submissions of no more than 250 words. (I went slightly over, what a rebel.)
Some points in my submission were inspired by an amendment that Tim Clement-Jones proposed during the Lords committee stage of the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill process in 2024, and a 2021 blog post by Peter K. Wells.
Please consider the case for an open address file as an idea for the NAP.
Government should mandate regular publication of an authoritative list of UK addresses as maintained by local authorities. This should include coordinates and a unique identifier. Address data should be published to an approved standard and licensed as open data.
The UK has fallen behind in provision of address data and other geospatial data infrastructure. Most countries in Northern and Western Europe publish authoritative address data openly, with France as an exemplar.
I am undertaking a project to unlock Council Tax address lists from UK councils. More than 60 councils have disclosed their lists under the OGL, but there has been opposition from Ordnance Survey: datadaptive.com/addr/.
Monopoly control of national address data serves incumbent interests to the detriment of the public interest. Restrictive terms increase input costs for businesses and fail to support purposes that require sharing of address data on the open web. Large public datasets, such as Price Paid Data and MHCLG's bulk EPC data, are compromised by restrictions on use of address data. Sub-standard address lists are common across the UK economy due to the artificial scarcity of authoritative data.
The Government should:
- return sovereign control of local address data to councils, but continue to require submission of that data (on a non-exclusive basis) to a National Address Gazetteer;
- continue to fund OS to deliver geospatial data for public purposes, but expand the open data portfolio to include national address data; and
- if necessary, use powers in the Postal Services Act and/or negotiation to license Royal Mail's rights in PAF for open re-use.
Previous posts related to the campaign for open address data in the UK
Reply to Ordnance Survey lawyers about Council Tax address datasets published as open data (22 May 2025)
Council Tax address datasets: progress update, next steps, and how to request missing datasets yourself (15 May 2025)
Ordnance Survey demands removal of nearly all Council Tax address datasets previously released as open data (12 May 2025)
Gedling Borough Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (1 May 2025)
North Tyneside Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (1 May 2025)
Tewkesbury Borough Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (1 May 2025)
Norwich City Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (30 April 2025)
South Norfolk District Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (29 April 2025)
Broadland District Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (28 April 2025)
Calderdale Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (26 April 2025)
East Riding of Yorkshire Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (25 April 2025)
Broxtowe Borough Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (24 April 2025)
Basildon Borough Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (23 April 2025)
Tendring District Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (22 April 2025)
Staffordshire Moorlands District Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (18 April 2025)
North Norfolk District Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (17 April 2025)
High Peak Borough Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (14 April 2025)
Neath Port Talbot Council (Castell-nedd Port Talbot) has released its Council Tax address list as open data (10 April 2025)
Stoke-on-Trent City Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (8 April 2025)
Cheshire West and Chester Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (7 April 2025)
Peterborough City Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (4 April 2025)
Arun District Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (1 April 2025)
Borough Council of King's Lynn & West Norfolk has released its Council Tax address list as open data (1 April 2025)
Rochdale Borough Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (30 March 2025)
Southampton City Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (26 March 2025)
West Suffolk Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (25 March 2025)
Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (24 March 2025)
Glasgow City Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (20 March 2025)
Rushcliffe Borough Council has confirmed its Council Tax address list as open data (17 March 2025)
City of Doncaster Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (13 March 2025)
Gateshead Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (10 March 2025)
Wandsworth Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (6 March 2025)
London Borough of Richmond upon Thames Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (4 March 2025)
East Suffolk Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (27 February 2025)
Merton Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (24 February 2025)
Mansfield District Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (20 February 2025)
Haringey Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (20 February 2025)
Dozens of address datasets from UK local authorities have been published on WhatDoTheyKnow (13 February 2025)
London Borough of Bexley has released its Council Tax address list as open data (6 February 2025)
Brent Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (6 February 2025)
Lewisham Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (3 February 2025)
Aberdeenshire Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (30 January 2025)
Milton Keynes City Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (30 January 2025)
North Lanarkshire Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (26 January 2025)
An Ordnance Survey lawyer has been in touch about open address data released by UK local authorities (23 January 2025)
Newham Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (22 January 2025)
Somerset Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (21 January 2025)
Rhondda Cynon Taf has released its Council Tax address list as open data (9 January 2025)
Royal Borough of Greenwich has released its Council Tax address list as open data (9 January 2025)
Ealing Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (8 January 2025)
Isle of Wight Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (6 January 2025)
Northumberland County Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (6 January 2025)
Newcastle City Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (31 December 2025)
Plymouth City Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (23 December 2025)
Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (22 December 2025)
Southwark Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (19 December 2025)
Ipswich Borough Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (16 December 2025)
North Northamptonshire Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (12 December 2025)
Wigan Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (9 December 2025)
Bradford Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (8 December 2025)
Cheshire East Council has released Council Tax and LLPG address lists as open data (8 December 2025)
West Northamptonshire Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (5 December 2025)
Brighton & Hove City Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (4 December 2025)
Manchester City Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (30 November 2025)
City of Wolverhampton has released its Council Tax address list as open data (28 November 2025)
Barnet Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (26 November 2025)
Buckinghamshire Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (25 November 2025)
Camden Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (20 November 2025)
Dorset Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (19 November 2025)
Bristol City Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (17 November 2025)
Wiltshire Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (8 November 2025)
Durham County Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (7 November 2025)
Sheffield City Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (3 November 2025)
Islington Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (28 October 2025)
Cornwall Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (17 October 2025)
Rushcliffe Borough Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (26 September 2025)
It took seven months but Hackney Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (5 August 2025)
More open address datasets released by councils in England (30 January 2025)
Open data: are ONS's address data products legal? (7 January 2025)
Open address data published by Leeds City Council – Ordnance Survey intervenes to protect Royal Mail IP (24 November 2024)
Open address data published by Leeds City Council shows the way to a national open address file (16 October 2024)
Whatever happened to the UK Government's Open Address Register programme? (1 October 2024)
FOI release: Royal Mail's view on a House of Lords proposal for open address data in the UK (15 August 2024)
Open addresses in the House of Lords – what happened? (28 March 2024)
Thoughts on campaigning for open address data in the UK (30 June 2023)
UK address data: a primer and bibliography (last updated 30 November 2022)