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Free PAF for the Public Sector

blog | 2 min read

Free Access for the Public Sector

Calling all Public Sector Organisations! 

Did you know that eligible public sector organisations can access Postcode Address File (PAF), Multiple Residence (MR) and Not Yet Built (NYB) data for FREE!

Talking to our clients we are pretty sure that there are thousands of public sector organisations that will qualify, thereby saving £££s!

Eligible public sector organisations can use PAF, MR and NYB data throughout their organisation as well as on external websites for displaying or confirming address details. The Public Sector Licence (PSL) Use Terms permit data sharing between public sector licensees; will cover sub-contractors and working with third parties, as well as emergency use situations.

What you get for FREE

The PAF is a database of more than 30 million postal addresses and 1.8 million postcodes managed and maintained by Royal Mail. PAF underpins the efficient sortation, routing and delivery of letters and parcels by Royal Mail and all other mail and delivery providers.

Multiple Residence is a file of non-delivery points that sit behind a PAF address, for example, in care homes and multiple occupancy buildings.

Not Yet Built is a file of properties in development and in planning that have been Postcoded, but are not added to PAF until they are completed. This file is particularly useful for planning and geo-demographic analysis.

What you pay for

To access this data with no set up fees and no ongoing maintenance, you can choose to use a third party solution such as Address Lookup. Hopewiser’s online solution is the ONLY one that includes Multiple Residence in the trial as standard, so you can test this out prior to making any decisions.

With FREE and easy access to the files, all you are paying for is the use of the lookup software which starts from 1.2p per lookup for NYB and 1.4p for PAF with MR.

You can check to see if your organisation is already registered to the PSL or you can apply to join the PSL on the Royal Mail website. Simply click on the link below and complete the short application form www.poweredbypaf.com/licensing-centre/public/paf-public-sector-licence.

Also, our experienced team is on hand to help with any questions you have about accessing address validation and data cleansing services as a Public Sector organisation. Contact us, were happy to help guide you through.

, updated 15th February 2023.