Live from day one
API
Verified UK council data as JSON — the same records behind the national table, with provenance in every row. Versioned v1 contract; a new dataset layer lands roughly monthly without breaking existing paths. Built by the pipeline described in the methodology, with errors logged in the corrections log and freshness on the change tracker.
Endpoints
Dataset versions, counts, licence, roadmap
All 350 councils, full band tables, provenance per row
One council's full record (any council slug)
Verified service phone numbers (populating daily)
Second home & empty homes premiums (populating daily)
CPZ + resident permit prices (contract live, collection from late 2026)
OpenAPI 3.1 specification
The record contract
Every response row carries value fields plus source_url, source_title, verified_date, status and includes. No naked numbers — consumers can audit any figure in one click. Unverifiable records ship flagged, never estimated.
{
"council": "Birmingham City Council",
"slug": "birmingham",
"period": "2026-27",
"band_d_total": 2353.17,
"bands": { "A": 1568.78, "...": "...", "H": 4706.34 },
"unit": "GBP/year",
"source_url": "https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/...",
"verified_date": "2026-06-10",
"status": "verified"
}Commercial access
Keyed access launches within the next 3–6 months at api.councildata.co.uk — identical paths, so day-one integrations carry over unchanged. Pro from £50/month (10k req/day, all live datasets, history, change feed); Business £99/month (100k req/day, alerts, bulk export). The free attributed static tier stays free. Integrate now, add a key later. Early-access pricing for teams that register before launch — see downloads & licensing or email hello@councildata.co.uk.
Frequently asked
Is the CouncilData API free to use?+
The current-period static API is free with attribution (CC BY 4.0, credit CouncilData with a link). Keyed commercial tiers launch within 3-6 months at api.councildata.co.uk on the same paths: Pro from £50/month with history and the change feed, Business at £99/month with alerts and bulk export. Nothing you build against v1 breaks.
What makes this API different from other council data sources?+
No naked numbers. Every row carries source_url (the council's own page), verified_date and status, so any figure can be audited in one click. Records that cannot be verified are flagged, never estimated.
How often does the data update?+
Council tax is re-verified on a rotating monthly sweep; contacts are collected in daily batches; every regeneration updates the generated date in meta.json. Value changes are logged append-only on the change tracker.
Will new datasets change the API contract?+
No. Every dataset — contacts now, landlord licensing, fees and developer contributions as they land monthly — uses the same envelope ({meta, count, results[]}) and the same provenance fields, at new /api/v1/{dataset}/ paths. Existing paths never break.