Putting UPRN at the Heart of the UK Property Market

Posted by Knight Frank Newcastle on 24th October 2024 -

At Knight Frank we are delighted to support the open letter that went to the Housing Minister on 16 October 2024 regarding the use of the Unique Property Reference Number (UPRN).

A Unique Property Reference Number is allocated to a property by local authorities and means that a full history of the property is available, regardless of any address changes.

The letter called on the government to take concrete steps to put UPRN at the heart of the property market with wider adoption expected to have a significant impact on transparency, efficiency and speed of the market.

The letter calls on the government to embed UPRN for public sector use, by including it in all public sector projects and legislation which relates to buildings. They should engage with the private sector to overcome barriers to adoptions and ensure there is an ethical approach to data.

Mass adoption of the UPRN will:

• Increase protection for tenants and a reduction of rogue landlords
• Reduce waste, save time and empower the consumer (e.g. by creating a central register of Gas Safe certificates built around UPRNs)
• Link in Electrical Installation Condition Reports (EICRs) in the PRS and low-carbon installations such as Solar-PV, BESS, for visibility to potential purchasers, and Distribution Network Operators (DNO)
• Enable data collection around accessibility and inclusion, and create effective routes to find accessible properties
• Improve building, consumer and market safety
• Create more targeted and cost-effective enforcement of legislation
• Speed up and make more certain the home buying and selling process
• Increase income for the Treasury from increased transactions and market activity

Beverley Kennard, Head of Lettings Operations, commented, “Back in January 2021 we supported an open letter highlighting the benefits of UPRNs, and since then progress has been made. However, with the Renters’ Rights Bill going through which includes the introduction of a PRS database, and data at the heart of this and many other Bills, we believe that more action is required.”

Adem Certel, Head Data Curator, commented, “With the addition of UPRN's, previously siloed datasets can suddenly be connected consistently and easily. This, in turn, provides us with more complete information about a property, including accurate geo coordinates, leading to more informed insights."