LATEST: Every rented property to soon have a ‘property passport’ number

A property passport system for rented properties took a step closer this morning after it was announced that the government is to open up its previously secret Unique Property Reference Numbers (UPRNs) system.

This will be available to home owners and non-commercial organisations from July 1^st and will be used to pull together all the regulatory and other information about a property into one number, creating a passport for every rented home.

The announcement has been made by The Lettings Industry Council (TLIC) whose chair Theresa Wallace says the announcement follows significant lobbying over the past two years to persuade the government to open up its data.

“The next phase of the TLIC vision is to engage with stakeholders in the industry, such as GasSafe, CRM system providers, deposit schemes and electrical safety certificate suppliers to adopt the UPRN as their property reference number on all certification and documentation,” says Wallace.

“Then, with the development of the Property Passport, the UPRN can be used much like a car number plate, to check safety requirements on privately rented properties have been completed.

“This will give tenants the peace of mind that their property has passed all of its checks and the Local Authorities the transparency they need for improved enforcement.”

The TLIC has told LandlordZONE that the Energy Performance of Buildings (EPC) register is already using the UPRN as their address identifier within their new website and The Property Ombudsman has also started collecting the data on a voluntary basis with a view of integrating this into their complaints process.

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