Owen Boswarva's blog

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 Barnet Council.

Background

As described in previous posts, I have recently been requesting Council Tax address datasets from a number of local authorities in England, and asking for permission to re-use the data under the terms of the Open Government Licence.

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:

www.datadaptive.com/addr/

Release from Barnet Council

The latest council to release its Council Tax address list is Barnet Council in London. The Council disclosed most of the requested data under the FOI Act and confirmed permission for re-use of the disclosed information 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_Barnet_Council_15531912.zip (8.36 MB).

Thanks to Barnet Council's Information Management team for facilitating the disclosure and open licensing of this data.

Unfortunately the Council refused to disclose the UPRNs (Unique Property Reference Numbers) corresponding to the properties on the Council Tax address list. In its internal review response, the Council did not mention any specific FOI exemptions but said:

"However, the council are unable to provide the UPRNs as they are not held in the council's Council Tax reporting systems. While UPRNs may be held elsewhere, this would require a potentially complex matching exercise which would essentially entail creating a new dataset in order to answer the request. This review therefore does not consider this to be information held at the time of the request. In addition, UPRNs are in the public domain, and it is possible for this matching exercise to be conducted absent the council's involvement."

As there are no UPRNs, I have not been able to produce a geocoded version of this Council Tax address list.

Previous posts related to the campaign for open address data in the UK

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)