Property Information in ESB
This page is designed to give an easy-to-read explanation of property information held in ESB and what some of the information held means.
All ESB installations come with LLPG data by default. We use the Addressbase Premium service to keep it up to date. We can also take updates directly from an authority more frequently, and information on this process can be found here.
All property information in ESB is tied to a UPRN, Unique Property Reference Number.
This unique ID stores a property's information in one place.
The main attributes to be aware of are:
- Logical status - In very straightforward terms, this refers to whether the property is built and habitable. For mailing purposes, a logical status code of 1 is the code to look for. This means the property is built and is “live”
- BLPU state code - BLPU means “Basic Land and Property Unit” and is another important field to be aware of. For service utilisation, looking for “In Use” is the category to look for. The other state codes include, for example, “under construction,”.
- Classification - This tells us what the use of the building is. Want to target just residential occupiers? Look for the RD Classification. If you are only interested in shops or retail premises, look for a C. This code allows you to pull out specific property types.
Typically, most ESB users will be looking for
- Logical status - 1
- BLPU - In use
- Classification - R or C
Classifications are one of the wider areas, as many of them exist. They are broken down into 4 layers. Typically, we are only ever interested in R's and C's.
| Primary code | Primary description |
|---|---|
| C | Commercial |
| L | Land |
| M | Military |
| O | Other (Ordnance Survey only) |
| P | Parent Shell |
| R | Residential |
| U | Unclassified |
| X | Dual Use |
| Z | Object of Interest |
For R's, the second level would be one of the following:
| Concatenated code | Description |
|---|---|
| RD | Dwelling |
| RG | Garage |
| RH | House In Multiple Occupation |
| RI | Residential Institution |
A full spreadsheet of all the classifications can be found here (CSV file).
Common issues with addresses include incorrect postcodes, incorrect classification, and logical status. All of these issues need to be raised and corrected with your authority's address custodian.
If they are not corrected at the source, even if we update them on your local ESB installation, they will be overwritten again with the wrong information in the next update.