This is the latest in an occasional 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 make available a new open address dataset released by Sheffield City Council.
Here's a download with the data and related correspondence, if you don't want to read the blog post: CT_address_list_Sheffield_City_Council_FOI-2242899.zip (13.1 MB).
Background
As described in previous posts, last year at my request Leeds City Council published a new list of all domestic properties in its area, including full addresses and Council Tax bands, with notice of permission to re-use the data under the terms of the Open Government Licence. I have subsequently requested equivalent datasets from a number of other English councils.
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:
Release from Sheffield City Council
The latest council to release its Council Tax address list is Sheffield City Council in northern England.
In its initial response, the Council withheld the requested information on the basis of the exemption in section 21 of the Freedom of Information Act because it considered that the information was already accessible to me via the Valuation Office Agency's online Check your Council Tax band service.
I requested an internal review of that decision, arguing that as the VOA service does not provide any public facility for bulk extraction or download of the address records, information equivalent to the requested address list was not "reasonably accessible" to me within the meaning of the Act.
The outcome of the internal review was rather odd – the Council upheld the original response but nevertheless decided to supply the requested information in consideration of my "specific needs":
"I find that we have correctly answered your request and subsequent query. We have directed you to where the information could be found on publicly accessible websites. When you highlighted the ways in which these datasets did not meet your specific needs, we responded by directly providing the information held by the council.
"Although you do mention that the Valuation Office Agency did not facilitate bulk downloads we could not have considered the ways you wish to use the information without further contact and have now responded accordingly.
"Therefore, your complaint is not upheld, and additional information has now been offered to meet your specific requirements."
In any case the Council has disclosed most of the requested information, and granted permission for re-use under the terms of the Open Government Licence (OGL).
You can download my correspondence with the Council, including the information as disclosed: CT_address_list_Sheffield_City_Council_FOI-2242899.zip (13.1 MB).
Unfortunately the disclosed information does not include UPRNs (Unique Property Reference Numbers), so I have not been able to geocode the address records by adding point coordinates. The Council claims that as the UPRNs are held in a separate system they would have to be linked manually, which would take an excessively long time.
Previous posts related to the campaign for open address data in the UK
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)