Neighbourhoods statistics link and a question!

Cristy

Not sure whether this is old hat to everyone else, but I just wanted to share the link of the Neighbourhood Statistics site: http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/

It gives pretty detailed local information on demographics, income levels, crime and much more - based on postcode.

I have a dilemma and was wondering what you would do.

I have seen a beautiful 4 bed detached home in the town we want to move to. It is huge and is everything we wanted - with some modernisation it could very well be our 'forever home'. However, after checking the statistics website, I have noticed that, even though the vicinity of the house is absolutely fine and looks quite upmarket, tidy, civilised, sports cars in drives etc., the area as a whole seems to suffer from crime to some extent. If you see the website above, the crime index score of the area we'd be moving to is 13000 odd out of 32000 (higher is best). BUT the area where the house is looks immaculate and totally civilised,

For the money, we can still get a reasonably nice detached in a very good part of town, but it would be way smaller and in one of those new estates that can feel a bit oppressive.

Re-reading this, I realise I come across as a dirty snob, but with a small child, safety is a huge concern for us. At the same time, I love the house in the slightly 'rougher' area and I just can't see it being crime ridden

What would you do?

Pal

Personally I would check out the area from the safety of my car and then burgle the nice looking house in the area. Get more loot that way.

Cristy

Point taken

silvercar

There are aeas very near my house that are "well dodgy" but it doesn't tend to spill over.

Maybe burglers know where to find the latest gadgets!

monkey_writer

I'd go down there at several times of the day, several times of the week and hang out. I think you'll soon get a good idea of the area.

dander

I'm not sure how large an area the statistics but you might want to consider what is part of the 'dodgier' area that might make the statistics look higher. Does that postcode take in a parade of shops where there might be shoplifting or a station or something like that.

Also is that area a place of high crime, or just highER? It might still be a very safe area.

exil

Crime statistics are at local authority level - eg a London Borough, District etc. They can't be used to identify local crime hotspots unless the OP can explain how they got more detailed stats.

Stewboy1978

There was a Website a few weeks ago which also provided such info. Unfortuantly the one above does not include Scotland...Can anybody remember what it was?

Cheers

xela_17

Could you ask the neighbours what the area is like? They are best placed to know. Or even the local police station might help.

Cristy

Thanks to everyone for your comments. We are going back this weekend to have a second look. At the moment, I am not put off enough by those figures to not want to buy it. It is really the best we can get for our money and we know we could make it beautiful. We will take a walk around the area to see for ourselves - after all, it being a saturday afternoon, I am sure the loiterers will be out in force

Dander, I don't think it is an area of high crime, just highER than some of the other parts of town where absolutely nothing ever happens!

exil wrote:

Crime statistics are at local authority level - eg a London Borough, District etc. They can't be used to identify local crime hotspots unless the OP can explain how they got more detailed stats.

You got me - I have no idea how they work it out. Here is all the explanation I could find on that site:

The Indices of Deprivation 2004 were produced as a means of comparing different measures of deprivation in different parts of England. Based on 2001/02 data, they were calculated for both local authorities (LAs) and Lower Layer Super Output Areas (LSOAs). In both cases the data were ranked such that a lower score indicates greater deprivation. In other words the most deprived local authority / LSOA is indicated by a rank of 1.

At LSOA level there were separate deprivation indices for income; employment; education, skills and training; health; barriers to housing and services; the living environment; and crime. In addition there was a combined 'Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD)'.

I just took the information at face value, since it comes from a reliable source.

suki1964

That site has where I live down at 9 thousand and something - Im five mins from wimbledon