Upmystreet misleading description of our postcode

cuteusmaximus

When our house sale went live last week on housenetwork.co.uk, I was horrified _pale_ when I read the description of our postcode given on Upmystreet (it's linked via "Local Information"). Our area is ex-local authority (Kensington it's not!) but to me ex-local authority and council area are two different things. There are a few council flats in our neighbourhood but it is certainly not as uh, "working class" as depicted in the description.

See here (You may have to be registered to read the full description, I'm not sure)
http://www.upmystreet.com/local/my-neighbours/neighbourhood-profile/l/EX4+7DU.html

I emailed Upmystreet to complain with no response.

Does anyone know how they assign their descriptions? What's written sounds a lot like the Glasgow council estate towers in "Still Game" on the BBC. It would be funny if weren't for the fact that it could hurt our house sale!

I'm off to buy a Scottish Daily Record (I live in Exeter).

CM

olly300

They haven't replied as they have a disclaimer at the bottom of the page

"This is a description of the type of neighbourhood to which this postcode has been matched, it is not a description of the postcode. The overview describes characteristics frequently found in these neighbourhoods. Since most postcodes include a mix of people we don’t expect everyone there will fit the description perfectly."

In 3 of the areas I've lived in recently I've put the postcode in, and only one of them descriptions matched the area correctly.

CB1979_2

well that's exeter for you, pretty much sums it up.

UMS seems to be pretty much spot on

http://www.upmystreet.com/local/my-neighbours/neighbourhood-profile/l/CR2+7AT.html

cuteusmaximus

I never thought of Exeter as being that bad actually, but maybe I'm not aware of its national reputation.

I've just popped in a mate's postcode - he lives in 1930s terraced houses in Exeter, and his description actually mentions it as akin to Kensington, which it total crap. Sherry sipping Independent readers - I think not!

http://www.upmystreet.com/local/my-neighbours/neighbourhood-profile/l/EX1+2PR.html

Seems pretty useless to me if it's the descriptions are that off. But anyway from reading the blurb that was pointed out I know to contact "marketing-data firm CACI." It says their descriptions are reviewed annually but the description I read sounds 30 years out of date.

looby-loo_2

Exeter is my favorite city! Yes really, I'm keeping a close look out for houses / prices with five miles or so for when I retire. I wouldn't worry too much about what it says on UMS, I'd never heard of it before.

BTW, UMS descibes the area in which I live as 'mortgage = medium' This can Be taken in two ways. Does it mean some houses are rented or that the people living there have finished paying their mortgage? Could be either - this data can ony ever be averages so will always be somewhat inaccurate.

scrummy_mummy_2

Marketing consultant by profession here (as well as landlord, letting agent and all round good egg!)....CACI produce an index which is (supposedly sophisticated!) a geodemographic targeting tool, known as ACORN/ACORN Lifestyles) used (largely!) by marketeers as a guide to what is considered to be (an attempt) to group together homogenous clumps of housing and associated inhabitants.....it is used to support marketing activities (usually mailshots!) as a slightly better way to 'target' potential customers. ....HOWEVER...in my professional opinion and experience, I wouldn't generally rely on it ALONE to make strategic decisions because it can be unresponsive/inaccurate/inappropriate. IT IS ONLY A GUIDE
Unfortunately, members of the gerneral public won't/don't understand the detail behind the profiling process and may use it as 'gospel' when looking for a new home.
They assign their descriptions as follows:
Social grade Occupation-head of household % of pop
A Upper middle class Senior professional 3
B Middle class Managerial 12
C1 Lower middle class White collar 23
C2 Skilled working class Skilled manual workers 33
D Semi/unskilled work class semi and unskilled 21
E Low level subsistence OAP's, unemployed,students 8

These figures are from my marketing text books (several years old!) but show how the classification is largely done.

....I don't rate upmystreet further than being a rough indicator either...or school league tables or lots of 'data' used to 'prove' things we hear about all the time but I'm not in the business of accepting things on face value.
They (CACI) won't change the profile of an area based on your individual feedback either...
No one tool is entirely accurate as a stand alone...you should always use several research methods to profile/inform any decisions.

dmg24

I would be quite concerned if somebody actually believed the profile for my postcode:

Most of the housing is terraced with some converted flats. Purpose built flats are rarer.

I live on a road of new builds! At least 50% are purpose built flats, and there is not one terrace or converted flat!

Don't worry cuteusmaximus, I would hope people would read the descriptions with a pinch of salt x