Availability: In stock
Warning - You will be given the following information before being transferred to an operator: The Royal Mail postcode address file is a database of some 1.7 million UK postcodes. It's easy to search and update and can help you maintain an accurate customer mailing list.
2019 End Q1 Edition
The PAF (Postal Address File) provides tabular data for over 30.4 million unique postal addresses and over 1.7 million unique postcodes in the UK. It is prepared and maintained by Royal Mail and is the definitive list of valid postal addresses in the UK, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. A new version is available every quarter, roughly in February, May, August and November (depending on when we receive the raw data).
The raw data format provided by Royal Mail is very hard for most users to deal with, so we at XYZ restructure the data into two standard database friendly products. We also add in the Country, County, District and Traditional County (pre 1974 as were required by Royal Mail until recently). These are our 'By Postcode' version and our 'By Premise' version.
- By Postcode: Most users take the 'By Postcode' data which is effectively a summary that has typically one row per Unique Postcode (there can be two rows for a postcode in order to distinguish between Normal and Large Users), so this file has just over 1.7 million rows. Individual property numbers, organisation names, etc are recorded as a list separated by a ';' withing the relevant column: e.g. the column Building_Number might look like '1;3;5;7;9;11' where these represent houses 1 to 11 on one side of the street. There is no data left out compared to the By Premise format, but it takes up a lot less space as there is no duplication.
- By Premise: This version is generally most useful as a mailing list because it has one row for every address. Thus there are over 30 million rows. The size of the file can mean it is hard to deal with unless you have suitable software, e.g. an SQL database such as PostgreSQL.
Available as Comma Separated (CSV) or by special request only as a TAB delimited file.
Please select 'Quarterly Updates' if you would also like to receive three updates during the year. A new version is automatically provided on the annual renewal. All updates are provided by e-mailed download links.
All Royal Mail licences are for one year only. Royal Mail define a User as any Person who has access to a terminal or device on which the PAF file can be accessed. So two PCs, for example, would be two users, as would two people who access PAF on one PC.
Specifically, Royal Mail state that 'a User isan individual authorised by an End User to use a Solution'. This means you have to purchase enough licences to cover the number of people with access to a PAF® solution.
Further details on the contents of data columns and the table structures can be found here.
If you require between 5 users and 56 users please contact us to place the order. You can see the price list for multiple users here. Download files available in CSV format and listed By Postcode or By Premise.
Royal Mail licences are quite complicated so you may need to discuss your proposed use with us. This would apply, for example, where more than one legal entity is involved (for example car dealerships), use on a public web site, etc. Please contact us for details.
If you need PAF Address Data but would like this provided as an online look-up service then please contact us.
Additional Information| EAN | 345 |
|---|---|
| Country | England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, United Kingdom, Wales |
| Postcode | UK, IoM & Channel Islands |
| Region | Central England, Central Southern England, East Anglia, East Midlands, Highlands & Islands, North East England, North England, North Scotland, North Wales, North West England, Northern Ireland, Scottish Central Belt East, Scottish Central Belt West, Severn Estuary, South East England, South Scotland, South Wales, South West England, South West Scottish Borders, The Fens, West Midlands, Yorkshire |
| Town | No |
| Finishing / Format | CSV (Text) |
Royal Mail Postcode File Online
I'm struggling to understand what you would get from the Royal Mail if you bought their PAF file dataset of UK addresses.
I was expecting that PAF was some form of database which you would host yourself, and the Royal Mail provide APIs into that database.
However, after reading this, I'm presuming that all you get is a series of files containing the data. I can't find any obvious information regarding an API.
- Are there any libraries available to help you handle these files, especially from Java?
- Do you have to parse the file yourself and stick it in your own database, so you can do quick lookups from an application?
- If all this is true, why would you ever bother buying this off the Royal Mail? Aren't all the third party providers, with their web based APIs, just far simpler to use - in terms of both programming and data maintenance?
Apologies if I've missed the obvious on this one, but I find the Royal Mail site lacking in information. I'm beginning to think that I've misunderstood their PAF file offering.
madth3
A_MA_MRoyal Mail Postcode Address File Uk
5 Answers
The postcode address file (PAF) is a set of>44 gold badges55 silver badges95 bronze badges
It's all in wikipedia
skaffmanskaffmanCheck out www.PostcodeAnywhere.co.uk a web-service based lookup site. Also desktop lookup app available. Decision likley to be based on lookup volume, ease of use, costs, etc. But for low-medium volumes, simple implementation in a few minutes and 'automatic' maintenance built-in.
andoraandoraRoyal Mail Postcode File 2017
I've subsequently found this page where you can order a sample data set. It states:
Please be aware that Raw Data contains no software and the data must be processed for use in IT applications. If you do not wish to program PAF or Postzon then we can supply it to you in a pre-written application known as UK Addresses on CD
The UK Addresses on CD page goes on about something called 'UK Addresses Utilities', and it states:
The UK Addresses CD also contains a set of dynamic link libraries and provides the ability to interrogate the address datasets programmatically through a .NET 2.0(+) DLL.
A_MA_MI have written something in C# that can parse these files into SQL Server
Alec.Alec.