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Postcode lookup

Source: R/postcode_lookup.R
postcode_lookup.Rd

Lookup a postcode.

Usage

postcode_lookup(postcode)

Arguments

postcode

A string. One valid UK postcode. This function is case- and space-insensitive. For more than one postcode use bulk_postcode_lookup. For Scottish postcodes use scottish_postcode_lookup.

Value

A data frame. Returns all available data if found. Returns NAs if postcode does not exist (404).

  • postcode Postcode. All current ('live') postcodes within the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, received monthly from Royal Mail. 2, 3 or 4-character outward code, single space and 3-character inward code.

  • quality Positional Quality. Shows the status of the assigned grid reference.

    • 1 - within the building of the matched address closest to the postcode mean

    • 2 - as for status value 1, except by visual inspection of Landline maps (Scotland only)

    • 3 - approximate to within 50m

    • 4 - postcode unit mean (mean of matched addresses with the same postcode, but not snapped to a building)

    • 5 - imputed by ONS, by reference to surrounding postcode grid references

    • 6 - postcode sector mean, (mainly PO Boxes)

    • 8 - postcode terminated prior to Gridlink(R) initiative, last known ONS postcode grid reference1

    • 9 - no grid reference available

  • eastings Eastings. The Ordnance Survey postcode grid reference Easting to 1 metre resolution; blank for postcodes in the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. Grid references for postcodes in Northern Ireland relate to the Irish Grid system.

  • northings Northings. The Ordnance Survey postcode grid reference Easting to 1 metre resolution; blank for postcodes in the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. Grid references for postcodes in Northern Ireland relate to the Irish Grid system.

  • country Country. The country (i.e. one of the four constituent countries of the United Kingdom or the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man) to which each postcode is assigned.

  • nhs_ha Strategic Health Authority. The health area code for the postcode.

  • longitude Longitude. The WGS84 longitude given the Postcode's national grid reference.

  • latitude Latitude. The WGS84 latitude given the Postcode's national grid reference.

  • european_electoral_region European Electoral Region (EER). The European Electoral Region code for each postcode.

  • primary_care_trust Primary Care Trust (PCT). The code for the Primary Care areas in England, LHBs in Wales, CHPs in Scotland, LCG in Northern Ireland and PHD in the Isle of Man; there are no equivalent areas in the Channel Islands. Care Trust/ Care Trust Plus (CT) / local health board (LHB) / community health partnership (CHP) / local commissioning group (LCG) / primary healthcare directorate (PHD).

  • region Region (formerly GOR). The Region code for each postcode. The nine GORs were abolished on 1 April 2011 and are now known as 'Regions'. They were the primary statistical subdivisions of England and also the areas in which the Government Offices for the Regions fulfilled their role. Each GOR covered a number of local authorities.

  • lsoa 2011 Census lower layer super output area (LSOA). The 2011 Census lower layer SOA code for England and Wales, SOA code for Northern Ireland and data zone code for Scotland.

  • msoa 2011 Census middle layer super output area (MSOA). The 2011 Census middle layer SOA (MSOA) code for England and Wales and intermediate zone for Scotland.

  • incode Incode. 3-character inward code that is following the space in the full postcode.

  • outcode Outcode. 2, 3 or 4-character outward code. The part of postcode before the space.

  • parliamentary_constituency Westminster Parliamentary Constituency. The Westminster Parliamentary Constituency code for each postcode.

  • admin_district District. The current district/unitary authority to which the postcode has been assigned.

  • parish Parish (England)/ community (Wales). The smallest type of administrative area in England is the parish (also known as 'civil parish'); the equivalent units in Wales are communities.

  • admin_county County. The current county to which the postcode has been assigned.

  • admin_ward Ward. The current administrative/electoral area to which the postcode has been assigned.

  • ccg Clinical Commissioning Group. Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) are NHS organisations set up by the Health and Social Care Act 2012 to organise the delivery of NHS services in England.

  • nuts Nomenclature of Units for Territorial Statistics (NUTS) / Local Administrative Units (LAU) areas. The LAU2 code for each postcode. NUTS is a hierarchical classification of spatial units that provides a breakdown of the European Union's territory for producing regional statistics which are comparable across the Union. The NUTS area classification in the United Kingdom comprises current national administrative and electoral areas, except in Scotland where some NUTS areas comprise whole and/or part Local Enterprise Regions. NUTS levels 1-3 are frozen for a minimum of three years and NUTS levels 4 and 5 are now Local Administrative Units (LAU) levels 1 and 2 respectively.

  • _code Returns an ID or Code associated with the postcode. Typically these are a 9 character code known as an ONS Code or GSS Code. This is currently only available for districts, parishes, counties, CCGs, NUTS and wards.

See https://postcodes.io/docs for more details.

Examples

# \donttest{
postcode_lookup("EC1Y8LX")
#>   postcode quality eastings northings country nhs_ha longitude latitude
#> 1 EC1Y 8LX       1   532544    182128 England London -0.090922 51.52252
#>   european_electoral_region primary_care_trust region           lsoa
#> 1                    London          Islington London Islington 023D
#>            msoa incode outcode   parliamentary_constituency
#> 1 Islington 023    8LX    EC1Y Islington South and Finsbury
#>   parliamentary_constituency_2024 admin_district                     parish
#> 1    Islington South and Finsbury      Islington Islington, unparished area
#>   admin_county date_of_introduction admin_ward ced                      ccg
#> 1           NA               198001    Bunhill  NA NHS North Central London
#>        nuts                 pfa admin_district_code admin_county_code
#> 1 Islington Metropolitan Police           E09000019         E99999999
#>   admin_ward_code parish_code parliamentary_constituency_code
#> 1       E05013699   E43000209                       E14001306
#>   parliamentary_constituency_2024_code  ccg_code ccg_id_code  ced_code
#> 1                            E14001306 E38000240         93C E99999999
#>   nuts_code lsoa_code msoa_code lau2_code  pfa_code
#> 1     TLI43 E01002704 E02000576 E09000019 E23000001
postcode_lookup("EC1Y 8LX") # spaces are ignored
#>   postcode quality eastings northings country nhs_ha longitude latitude
#> 1 EC1Y 8LX       1   532544    182128 England London -0.090922 51.52252
#>   european_electoral_region primary_care_trust region           lsoa
#> 1                    London          Islington London Islington 023D
#>            msoa incode outcode   parliamentary_constituency
#> 1 Islington 023    8LX    EC1Y Islington South and Finsbury
#>   parliamentary_constituency_2024 admin_district                     parish
#> 1    Islington South and Finsbury      Islington Islington, unparished area
#>   admin_county date_of_introduction admin_ward ced                      ccg
#> 1           NA               198001    Bunhill  NA NHS North Central London
#>        nuts                 pfa admin_district_code admin_county_code
#> 1 Islington Metropolitan Police           E09000019         E99999999
#>   admin_ward_code parish_code parliamentary_constituency_code
#> 1       E05013699   E43000209                       E14001306
#>   parliamentary_constituency_2024_code  ccg_code ccg_id_code  ced_code
#> 1                            E14001306 E38000240         93C E99999999
#>   nuts_code lsoa_code msoa_code lau2_code  pfa_code
#> 1     TLI43 E01002704 E02000576 E09000019 E23000001
postcode_lookup("DE3 5LF") # terminated postcode returns NAs
#> Warning: Not Found (HTTP 404).
#> [1] "Postcode DE3%205LF is incorrect or expired."
#>    postcode quality eastings northings country nhs_ha longitude latitude
#> 1 DE3%205LF      NA       NA        NA      NA     NA        NA       NA
#>   european_electoral_region primary_care_trust region lsoa msoa incode outcode
#> 1                        NA                 NA     NA   NA   NA     NA      NA
#>   parliamentary_constituency admin_district parish admin_county admin_ward ced
#> 1                         NA             NA     NA           NA         NA  NA
#>   ccg nuts admin_district_code admin_county_code admin_ward_code parish_code
#> 1  NA   NA                  NA                NA              NA          NA
#>   parliamentary_constituency_code ccg_code ccg_id_code ced_code nuts_code
#> 1                              NA       NA          NA       NA        NA
#>   lsoa_code msoa_code lau2_code
#> 1        NA        NA        NA
# }