Data sources
Settings → Data sources lets your organisation save and test its own Ordnance Survey API key. Property lookups don’t use the key yet: today they use your own property register, postcodes.io and Google’s address lookup. We’ll update this page when OS lookups are switched on.
What it is
A single field for your organisation’s own Ordnance Survey (OS) API key. Most UK housing associations qualify for free access to it under the Public Sector Geospatial Agreement (PSGA). This is your organisation’s own key, stored server-side and never a shared platform key — property resolution using your register and postcodes.io works either way, and the key will add full UPRN matching outside your imported stock once that is switched on.
Before you start
Data sources requires organisation-admin access to Settings at a higher level than General or Branding — no specific plan is required.
How to do it
- Open Settings → Data sources.
- Paste your Ordnance Survey API key and click Save key.
- Click Test key to confirm it works — this fires a single real lookup against a fixed postcode.
- Click Remove to delete the key entirely, with no effect on your property register.
How it integrates
Once saved, the key is never returned to any client and never logged — only a “key set” flag and its last four characters are visible in the portal, so you can confirm the right key is on file without anyone being able to read it back out.
Common problems
- Test key says the key was rejected. Check it was copied correctly, and that the Places API product has specifically been added to your Ordnance Survey Data Hub project — it isn’t enabled by default even once you have an account.
- Test key says quota exceeded. You’ve hit the usage limit on your own Ordnance Survey Data Hub plan — check your usage there, or try again later.
- Test key says it couldn’t reach Ordnance Survey. This is usually transient — try again in a moment.