HM Land Registry launches tool for accurate sales data

HM Land Registry has launched new property identifiers designed to improve the accuracy of property sales data.

Unique Property Reference Numbers (UPRNs) and INSPIRE IDs are now available alongside the monthly Price Paid Data.

The government says Price Paid Data provides information on residential property sales in England and Wales.

It is used by property professionals, researchers, public bodies, lenders, digital service providers and others who rely on accurate and reliable property market information.

Agents will be better placed

A UPRN is a unique number assigned to an addressable location, while INSPIRE IDs identify specific areas of land shown on a map.

Propertymark says linking UPRNs to Price Paid Data should make it easier for agents and property portals to match previous sale prices to the correct property.

The industry body writes on its website: “This will reduce errors caused by inconsistent address formats, similar property names, or duplicate records.

“It should also make it easier to build a clear transaction history for an individual property. Agents will be better placed to support market appraisals and give buyers and sellers reliable evidence about previous sales”.

Strategic plan

Lynne Nicholson, deputy director for Data at HM Land Registry, said: “We have a strategic plan to unlock the value of our data to create new opportunities for innovation and growth.

“To support this, and in response to customer demand, we are providing UPRNs and INSPIRE IDs through a series of lookup tables, beginning with our Price Paid dataset. Later this financial year, we will be adding similar lookup tables to our UK Companies data and Overseas Companies data, as part of our move to support a more efficient, transparent, and digitally connected property market”.

The government adds that lenders will also benefit from the changes. It says UPRNs will provide a consistent way to link sale prices, addresses and property records. This could reduce uncertainty during valuations, mortgage assessments and due diligence.