Owen Boswarva's blog

Update 29 January 2026

The download containing Council Tax address data disclosed by Somerset Council in January 2026 and originally linked in the post below has been removed as of today, following receipt of further correspondence from the Council.

The Council's new position is that it made an error when it granted permission for re-use of the addresses in the Council Tax list under the Open Government Licence, because the addresses contain third party rights that the Council was not authorised to license.

You can download my correspondence with the Council to date: CT_address_list_Somerset_FOI-19975137_[NO_DATA_correspondence_only].zip (0.61 MB).

It seems likely that this change in the Council's position follows an intervention from Ordnance Survey and/or GeoPlace LLP as anticipated in my recent post.

I am seeking clarification from the Council in further correspondence and some or all of the data may be republished at a later date.

The remainder of this post is as originally published on 21 January 2026, with the exception of the download link.

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 Somerset 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 Somerset Council

The latest council to release its Council Tax address list is Somerset Council in the South West region of England. The Council's response to my requests was delayed due to technical issues related to the migration of legacy systems from four district councils into one Somerset Council system for Revenue and Benefits. However, this week 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_Somerset_FOI-19975137.zip (6.88 MB) [link removed].

Thanks to Somerset Council's FOI and Finance teams for facilitating the disclosure and open licensing of this data.

The Council has not disclosed the UPRNs (Unique Property Reference Numbers) corresponding to the properties on the list, on the basis that they are not held by the Council. I am sceptical and have asked the Council to look into that further, but in the meantime I have not produced a geocoded version of the address list.

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

Rhondda Cynon Taf has released its Council Tax address list as open data (9 January 2025)

Royal Borough of Greenwich has released its Council Tax address list as open data (9 January 2025)

Ealing Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (8 January 2025)

Isle of Wight Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (6 January 2025)

Northumberland County Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (6 January 2025)

Newcastle City Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (31 December 2025)

Plymouth City Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (23 December 2025)

Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (22 December 2025)

Southwark Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (19 December 2025)

Ipswich Borough Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (16 December 2025)

North Northamptonshire Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (12 December 2025)