Where is the now free UK postcode data to be found?

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+4 Q:

Where is the now free UK postcode data to be found?

By all accounts the UK postcode address file (PAF) - a list of postcode with the matching addresses - is free now.

I've had a good old nosey on the OS OpenData site (http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsite/opendata/) but can't seem to find it. I can find geocoding stuff for each postcode BUT I want the addresses for each postcode.

Or will I have to download two separate things and fudge them together? I knew it was too good to be true LOL.

+3 A:

My understanding is that the address-postcode data you want is still The Royal Mail's PAF file, which you have to pay for. I believe all Ordnance Survey have done, is released postcode-location data (the geocode stuff you refer to).

I don't think they have been released free as a combined "mashup".

This Wikipedia article seems to suggest the same.

Rob Levine 2010-06-24 13:53:35

Royal Mail do still own and still charge for postcode data.

check out this link for a free demo.... http://ow.ly/237SO

Steve Sherry 2010-06-25 10:44:20

+1 A:

In this post, I mentioned a BBC article that stated that the UK Post Code will indeed be free from the start of 2010. The Royal Mail website looks like it hasn't been updated yet. Try the Contact Us page on the Royal Mail Site as they "own" the data.

Daniel Dyson 2010-06-25 11:25:07

If you read the article closely it says "The dataset that is likely to be freed is that which ties postcodes to geographic locations." Although it talks about the Post Code -> Address data it says something that implies that will be freed.

Samuel Jack 2010-06-25 11:38:32

Ah yes. Another case of the BBC not letting the truth get in the way of a good headline.

Daniel Dyson 2010-06-25 11:51:46

+1 A:

The PAF file is not free, and is unlikely ever to be so.

What was opened up was the Ordnance Survey CodePoint data, which gives eastings and northings for each postcode. What it doesn't contain is address data. That belongs to the Royal Mail, and you'll have to prise it from their cold, dead fingers.

skaffman 2010-06-25 11:27:24

PAF is unlikely to be free anytime soon - it costs to maintain that kind of a data set. Someone has to pay for it. Right now I can't see the taxpayer coming forward with a signed cheque ;-) The 'free' part was referring to the website that Royal Mail has where a postcode can be looked up. It is limited to a few lookups per day though.

The question is what do you need the data for. Access to the data is very cheap in most cases. As a very small user you can get it for under a tenner a year for a few hunderd queries, as a very large user you can get it for well under a penny a query.

If you can handle those sort of prices - give us a shout at CraftyClicks - we are a PAF reseller.

Adam 2010-07-02 11:01:35

Well yes, but, end-user wise, the equivalent to PAF is free to anyone in Japan and also in the States I believe. So it is only an arbitrary "cost" IMHO

Dougal 2010-07-02 16:31:53

ansaurus

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Where is the now free UK postcode data to be found?

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