Private rented homes check
Leads to check for privately rented homes, from open data. A lead is not a finding: a council officer checks each one and decides what happens next.
What it is
A check that reads open data and finds privately rented homes that a council can look at. Each result is a lead to check. It is not a finding, and a council officer decides what happens next.
What it helps with
The leads support two duties that the council already has: minimum energy standards in privately rented homes, and its licensing schemes. The check shows the private rented housing team which homes open data flags, so the team knows where to look first. The governance note names the law.
How it works
- It joins the government's energy certificates to Ordnance Survey address points and ONS wards.
- Rule 1 finds homes recorded as privately rented and rated F or G.
- Rule 2 finds privately rented homes inside a selective licensing area that match no entry on the council's licence register.
- It counts the leads in each ward. This page shows counts only, never an address.
These are the boroughs we have checked so far.
Choose a borough to see its leads to check, ward by ward.
Enfield
Run on 8 October 2026
55 rule 1 leads to check, out of 72,560 homes checked
The rules
- Rule 1
Recorded as privately rented on its latest energy certificate, rated F or G, certificate lodged in the last 10 years, and no exemption found on the PRS Exemptions Register.
55 leads to check
- Rule 2
Recorded as privately rented on its latest energy certificate (lodged in the last 10 years), inside a selective licensing area, and not matched to any entry on the council's licence register.
Not run. The council does not publish its licence register as a download. Rule 2 runs when the council supplies a copy of the register.
Homes that meet both rules: not counted, because a rule did not run.
Leads to check in each ward
Every ward, with its exact count. Rule 2 did not run, so the table has no Rule 2 column.
| Ward | Rule 1 |
|---|---|
| Arnos Grove | 2 |
| Bowes | 1 |
| Brimsdown | 1 |
| Bullsmoor | 3 |
| Bush Hill Park | 0 |
| Carterhatch | 2 |
| Cockfosters | 1 |
| Edmonton Green | 3 |
| Enfield Lock | 2 |
| Grange Park | 1 |
| Haselbury | 1 |
| Highfield | 3 |
| Jubilee | 4 |
| Lower Edmonton | 2 |
| New Southgate | 0 |
| Oakwood | 1 |
| Palmers Green | 3 |
| Ponders End | 0 |
| Ridgeway | 3 |
| Southbury | 3 |
| Southgate | 3 |
| Town | 9 |
| Upper Edmonton | 3 |
| Whitewebbs | 1 |
| Winchmore Hill | 3 |
Link accuracy
Precision 83%Recall 100%From 114 labelled links.provisional
Precision: of the links the check made, the share that were right. Recall: of the right links, the share the check found.
Method
These are leads to check, not findings. Each lead is a home that open data suggests the council can look at. A person at the council decides what happens next.
The check reads the government's energy certificate data (EPC), Ordnance Survey address points, ONS wards and postcodes, and the council's licence register where the council publishes one. It uses each home's latest certificate if it was lodged in the last 10 years.
Rule 1 counts homes recorded as privately rented and rated F or G. The PRS Exemptions Register has no bulk download. So the check searched the public register for each rule 1 postcode, one at a time (62 postcodes, 2026-10-07). It left out 10 homes with an active exemption.
A register entry can carry an incomplete address, so the council still checks each lead before it acts.
Rule 2 counts privately rented homes inside a selective licensing area with no matching entry on the council's licence register. A home can meet both rules. The 'both' count shows these homes, and they also count under each rule.
Certificates join to Ordnance Survey address points through their property reference number (UPRN). A certificate without one, and each licence register entry, joins by address with Splink, the Ministry of Justice's record linking tool. Every link has a score and its reasons.
Link accuracy is provisional: precision 0.83 and recall 1.00 at a match threshold of 0.9. They come from 114 labelled links. AI reviewers labelled them, not a person: two on their own, and a third where they differed.
Rule 2 did not run: The council does not publish its licence register as a download. Rule 2 runs when the council supplies a copy of the register.
Counts are of homes, not people. The data holds nothing about residents.
Sources
- Energy Performance Certificates, domestic (full load). Open Government Licence v3.0 for every field except the address fields. Address fields - Ordnance Survey and Royal Mail terms, permitted uses only
- Enfield property licence register (selective, additional and mandatory HMO) (not available on the run date). No reuse licence stated. Public register under Housing Act 2004 section 232. Holds personal data (licence holder and manager names and addresses)
- ONS Postcode Directory (August 2026). Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains OS data (c) Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains Royal Mail data (c) Royal Mail copyright and database right 2026
- Wards (May 2026) Boundaries UK BFC. Open Government Licence v3.0. Source - Office for National Statistics. Contains OS data (c) Crown copyright and database right 2026
- OS Open UPRN (2026-09). Open Government Licence v3.0 (OS OpenData). Contains OS data (c) Crown copyright and database right 2026
- PRS Exemptions Register (public search, one postcode at a time). Open Government Licence v3.0 (site footer). The OGL does not cover personal data
Download
Both hold counts only. A blank cell in the CSV means the rule did not run.
Free for anyone to reuse. The ward counts are under CC BY 4.0: credit Mithril. They contain public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. The sources above keep their own licences.
Southwark
Run on 8 October 2026
81 rule 1 leads to check, out of 77,281 homes checked
The rules
- Rule 1
Recorded as privately rented on its latest energy certificate, rated F or G, certificate lodged in the last 10 years, and no exemption found on the PRS Exemptions Register.
81 leads to check
- Rule 2
Recorded as privately rented on its latest energy certificate (lodged in the last 10 years), inside a selective licensing area, and not matched to any entry on the council's licence register.
Not run. The council does not publish its licence register as a download. Rule 2 runs when the council supplies a copy of the register.
Homes that meet both rules: not counted, because a rule did not run.
Leads to check in each ward
Every ward, with its exact count. Rule 2 did not run, so the table has no Rule 2 column.
| Ward | Rule 1 |
|---|---|
| Borough & Bankside | 3 |
| Camberwell Green | 12 |
| Champion Hill | 2 |
| Chaucer | 4 |
| Dulwich Hill | 4 |
| Dulwich Village | 2 |
| Dulwich Wood | 1 |
| Faraday | 7 |
| Goose Green | 5 |
| London Bridge & West Bermondsey | 7 |
| Newington | 2 |
| North Bermondsey | 1 |
| North Walworth | 6 |
| Nunhead & Queen's Road | 3 |
| Old Kent Road | 0 |
| Peckham | 1 |
| Peckham Rye | 1 |
| Rotherhithe | 0 |
| Rye Lane | 3 |
| South Bermondsey | 1 |
| St George's | 1 |
| St Giles | 13 |
| Surrey Docks | 2 |
Link accuracy
Precision 87%Recall 70%From 144 labelled links.provisional
Precision: of the links the check made, the share that were right. Recall: of the right links, the share the check found.
Method
These are leads to check, not findings. Each lead is a home that open data suggests the council can look at. A person at the council decides what happens next.
The check reads the government's energy certificate data (EPC), Ordnance Survey address points, ONS wards and postcodes, and the council's licence register where the council publishes one. It uses each home's latest certificate if it was lodged in the last 10 years.
Rule 1 counts homes recorded as privately rented and rated F or G. The PRS Exemptions Register has no bulk download. So the check searched the public register for each rule 1 postcode, one at a time (70 postcodes, 2026-10-07). It left out 10 homes with an active exemption.
A register entry can carry an incomplete address, so the council still checks each lead before it acts.
The check held 1 more home out of the rule 1 count for review. Each meets rule 1, but an active register entry names its building and no flat, or its certificate can belong to one of several flats. The council's list shows them apart from the leads.
Rule 2 counts privately rented homes inside a selective licensing area with no matching entry on the council's licence register. A home can meet both rules. The 'both' count shows these homes, and they also count under each rule.
Certificates join to Ordnance Survey address points through their property reference number (UPRN). A certificate without one, and each licence register entry, joins by address with Splink, the Ministry of Justice's record linking tool. Every link has a score and its reasons.
Link accuracy is provisional: precision 0.87 and recall 0.70 at a match threshold of 0.9. They come from 144 labelled links. AI reviewers labelled them, not a person: two on their own, and a third where they differed.
Rule 2 did not run: The council does not publish its licence register as a download. Rule 2 runs when the council supplies a copy of the register.
Counts are of homes, not people. The data holds nothing about residents.
Sources
- Energy Performance Certificates, domestic (full load). Open Government Licence v3.0 for every field except the address fields. Address fields - Ordnance Survey and Royal Mail terms, permitted uses only
- Southwark property licence register (selective, additional and mandatory HMO) (not available on the run date). No reuse licence stated. Public register under Housing Act 2004 section 232. Holds personal data (licence holder and manager names and addresses)
- ONS Postcode Directory (August 2026). Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains OS data (c) Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains Royal Mail data (c) Royal Mail copyright and database right 2026
- Wards (May 2026) Boundaries UK BFC. Open Government Licence v3.0. Source - Office for National Statistics. Contains OS data (c) Crown copyright and database right 2026
- OS Open UPRN (2026-09). Open Government Licence v3.0 (OS OpenData). Contains OS data (c) Crown copyright and database right 2026
- PRS Exemptions Register (public search, one postcode at a time). Open Government Licence v3.0 (site footer). The OGL does not cover personal data
Download
Both hold counts only. A blank cell in the CSV means the rule did not run.
Free for anyone to reuse. The ward counts are under CC BY 4.0: credit Mithril. They contain public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. The sources above keep their own licences.
Governance note: licences, personal data and how long we keep data.