Adult Social Care Glossary, v 0.6

The Unique Property Reference Number (UPRN) is the unique identifier for every addressable location across the UK.

An addressable location may be any kind of building, or it may be an object that might not have a ‘normal' address – such as a bus shelter or an electricity substation for example. UPRNs provide every property (or object) with a consistent identifier throughout its lifecycle, from planning through to demolition.

Unique and authoritative, the UPRN is like a National Insurance number for physical objects. Everything in Great Britain can be identified with a UPRN.

This authoritative ‘code' can be used to create trusted connections between disparate sources of information sharing a common characteristic: location. Even if there are other issues with the datasets, the UPRN is a simple and unique reference point.

Crucially, when organisations add the UPRN to any kind of data, they can link matching records in different databases together. This means fewer errors in data exchange and communication, but far greater efficiency in all kinds of operations.

Many technologies can be used to share the UPRN, including spreadsheets, databases, XML/GML schema and linked data. Groups already using the UPRN include local and central government bodies, the emergency services, insurance providers, and utility companies.

The Open Standards Board, via Government Digital Service (GDS), mandated that from 1st July 2021, the UPRN and USRN are the public sector standard for referencing and sharing property and street information. This means that all new public sector systems and projects that include address and/or street data should include the identifiers.