_Open letter from residential property industry urges the use of the UPRN across the sector

As signatories of the letter alongside other leading bodies from across the residential property sector, we believe that the wide market adoption of the UPRN will deliver substantial benefits to UK society, the residential property sector and to Government.

Beverley Kennard, Associate and Operations Manager at Knight Frank comments: “A Unique Property Reference Number (UPRN) is allocated to a property by local authorities and means that a full history of the property is available, regardless of if the address changes. The use of UPRNs will bring real benefits to the residential property sector and landlords and tenants.”

Ian McGuinness, Partner and Head of Geospatial at Knight Frank comments: "Anyone who's ordered home delivery understands the importance of quality addressing. However, our postcode system wasn't designed for the digital age and isn't unique at household level. While we thankfully already have a national system of unique numbers, they're not widely available - and chances are you wouldn't recognise your own."

This important call from industry prompts for much wider and easier adoption of UPRNs by agents, conveyancers, service providers and throughout supply chains.

Once this data infrastructure is in place we can better understand the impact of proposals on everything from taxation to energy supply to the design of public realm. The widespread adoption of UPRNs will lead to a more transparent, interconnected and evidence-driven property industry. It's a solution staring us in the face."

The letter details the benefits of widespread market adoption of the UPRN to society, the economy and property sector. These include:

• Improved building, consumer and market safety
• More targeted and cost-effective enforcement of legislation
• Increased protection for tenants and a reduction of rogue landlords
• The ability to speed up conveyancing and transparency in home buying and selling
• The opportunity to reduce waste, save time and empower the consumer

However, the letter also calls for steps by Government and for certain conditions to be met to really enable these benefits:

• All public sector data sets relating to properties and buildings should include the UPRN and a clear roadmap is needed to get to this point
• All future Government tenders and policy relating to residential properties and associated data should mandate the use of the UPRN
• There must be clear agreement about the ethical use of data in the housing market
• The UPRN must be in a clear and useable format that allows the UPRN to be widely identified and freely used and shared
• This must include the tools, the support materials and the explanation needed by the whole sector for adoption, not just the solution providers

Following the profound findings in the RoPA report, that outlines the phenomenal need for compliance within the property agents’ sector, Lord Best states that “the UPRN is an excellent concept and could be a game-changer.”

The impact of the universal adoption of the UPRN can be immense, The National Trading Standards Estate and Letting Agents Team (NTSELAT) explain that, “the widespread use of a Unique Property Reference Number (UPRN) has the potential to deliver many benefits across the residential property market.

Importantly, a UPRN can offer tenants a greater level of protection against rogue landlords and help to reduce consumer fraud when buying or renting a home. The NTS Estate and Letting Agency Team supports the work of The Letting Industry Council in driving the adoption of the URPN across the property sector”.