UK Houses

Crime doesn’t pay if you’re a home seller - here are the best places to buy an affordable crime-free home

Katie Court
Authored by Katie Court
Posted: Monday, February 22, 2021 - 09:38

They say crime doesn’t pay and this is certainly the case for the nation’s home sellers, with the vast majority of homebuyers stating they would offer below asking price for a home in an area with a high crime rate. That’s according to the latest property market research by estate agent comparison site, GetAgent.co.uk, who also revealed which pockets of the market offer the best mix of the lowest crime rate and the most affordable property prices.

The average crime rate in England and Wales is currently at 90, although this can climb as high as 3,000 in postcodes home to the highest rate of crime.

GetAgent asked the nation’s homebuyers if they would offer below asking price on a home if it was located in an area with a high crime rate. A huge 70% stated that they would use a high crime rate as a bargaining chip to secure a property for less. That’s if they put an offer in, to begin with, as 86% of those surveyed also said they wouldn’t bother buying in an area with a high crime rate in the first place.

So where should they start their search?

GetAgent also looked at the best areas for low crime and property affordability based on current crime rates and house prices.

Most affordable crime-free property postcodes

The SA40 postcode in Carmarthenshire came out on top, with a crime rate of just 38 and an average house price of £266,809, the area scored 4.1 in GetAgent’s index of house price affordability and crime rates.

In fact, Carmarthenshire also accounted for a further three of the top 10 postcodes, with SA34 (4.9), SA39 (5.1) and SA66 (5.3) also scoring well.

The SY17 postcode in Powys (4.9) ranked second for house price affordability and low crime rates, with Copeland’s LA18 (5.2) and Pembrokeshire’s SA37 (5.4) postcodes also performing well. The EX19 (5.4) and EX24 (5.6) postcodes in Exeter also made the top 10, along with the DN19 postcode in North Lincolnshire (5.7).

High house prices and crime rates

At the other end of the table, London’s EC3 postcode covering parts of the City of London and Tower Hamlets ranks as the worst. With property prices averaging £858,868 and a crime rate of 2,532, the area scored 3,874 in GetAgent’s index.

In fact, London accounts for seven of the top 10 worst areas for high house prices and crime rates, with Birmingham’s B2 postcode (895.8), Liverpool’s L2 postcode (535.1) and Bristol’s BS1 postcode (293.7) also featuring.

Best and worst by region - To see which postcodes rank as the best and worst in your region, check out the data table below.

Founder and CEO of GetAgent.co.uk, Colby Short, commented:

 “Crime is an incredibly influential factor when it comes to choosing where to live and will often form part of a homebuyer’s initial search criteria.

However, as is often the case, we find ourselves having to compromise on what we might find an acceptable level due to other factors such as a desired location and affordability of property prices.

When taking crime rates into account, it’s as important to conduct your research at the most granular level as possible. All too often, we look at an overall crime rate in a city or neighbourhood but this can be misleading.

By diving into the data you might well find that the vast majority of crimes in an area are concentrated in a completely different part of a given town or city to the area you might wish to buy in, or that the crimes in question don’t influence your decision-making process to the same extent.

For example, crimes such as shoplifting or anti-social behaviour may rank as less of a deterrent for actual homebuyers compared to more serious issues such as violent crimes or burglary.

There are some great databases out there that allow you to really drill down and analyse crime rates on a crime by crime basis in a given area and these are a great place to start to get a realistic idea of whether you might like to live somewhere or not.”  

●        Survey of 1,116 UK homebuyers carried out by Find Out Now (11th February 2021).

●        The overall crime rate is based on crimes per 1,000 people in each postcode over the last 12 months (Source: PropertyData)

●        Property prices are based on the latest available asking prices in each postcode (Source: PropertyData)

●        Crime to house price affordability score for each area based on a combined price and crime rate figure subsequently translated to a score format through factor division ((Source: GetAgent.co.uk)

 

Would you buy a property in an area with a high crime rate?

Answer

Respondents

No

86%

No choice due to my budget for buying a home

7%

Yes

7%

 

 

Would you offer below asking price due to an area having a high crime rate?

Answer

Respondents

Yes

70%

No

30%

 

 

Table shows the best postcodes in England and Wales for house price affordability and a low crime rate

Postcode

Average house price

Average £/sq ft

Crime rate

Crime/House Price Affordability Score

Location

SA40

266,809

£109

38

4.1

Carmarthenshire

SY17

218,056

£162

30

4.9

Powys

SA34

261,165

£139

35

4.9

Carmarthenshire

SA39

190,457

£118

43

5.1

Carmarthenshire

LA18

130,537

£106

49

5.2

Copeland

SA66

261,664

£135

39

5.3

Carmarthenshire

SA37

286,071

£158

34

5.4

Pembrokeshire

EX19

320,867

£224

24

5.4

Exeter

EX24

342,733

£282

20

5.6

Exeter

DN19

222,574

£153

37

5.7

North Lincolnshire

 

 

 

 

 

 

Table shows the worst postcodes in England and Wales for house price affordability and a low crime rate

Postcode

Average house price

Average £/sq ft

Crime rate

Crime/House Price Affordability Score

Location

EC3

£858,868

£1,530

2,532

3,874.0

City of London/Tower Hamlets

EC4

£766,393

£1,146

1,486

1,703.0

City of London/Westminster

WC2

£1,734,536

£960

1,475

1,416.0

Camden/Westminster/City of London

B2

£184,531

£298

3,006

895.8

Birmingham

W1

£2,380,399

£1,078

742

799.9

Westminster

EC2

£1,130,929

£955

804

767.8

Islington/Hackney/City of London

L2

£140,998

£274

1,953

535.1

Liverpool

W2

£1,029,498

£1,221

243

296.7

Westminster

BS1

£362,702

£390

753

293.7

Bristol

SW1

£1,415,773

£1,049

277

290.6

Westminster/Kensington and Chelsea

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Table shows the best postcodes in each region of England and Wales for house price affordability and a low crime rate

Region

Postcode

Average house price

Average £/sq ft

Crime rate

Crime/House Price Affordability Score

Location

East Midlands

LN10

£302,766

£202

44

8.9

Lincoln

LN7

£283,499

£158

57

9.0

Lincoln

PE22

£231,191

£159

62

9.9

Boston

 

East of England

IP23

£358,676

£243

35

8.5

Mid Suffolk

PE33

£303,837

£205

42

8.6

West Norfolk

IP29

£399,468

£282

32

9.0

St Edmundsbury

 

London

DA7

£447,500

£406

65

26.4

Bexley

RM12

£426,155

£425

67

28.5

Havering

BR4

£647,542

£467

61

28.5

Bromley

 

North East

NE43

£392,950

£187

31

5.8

Northumberland

DL13

£160,948

£105

63

6.6

County Durham

NE49

£145,511

£128

66

8.4

Northumberland

 

North West

LA18

£130,537

£106

49

5.2

Copeland

LA10

£250,742

£218

30

6.5

South Lakeland

CA27

£258,411

£179

37

6.6

Copeland

 

South East

PO39

£302,775

£230

51

11.7

Isle of Wight

OX44

£457,889

£375

32

12.0

South Oxfordshire

PO35

£390,449

£306

41

12.5

Isle of Wight

 

South West

EX19

£320,867

£224

24

5.4

Exeter

EX24

£342,733

£282

20

5.6

Exeter

EX35

£296,328

£220

31

6.8

Exeter

 

West Midlands

SY10

£323,383

£186

42

7.8

Shropshire

WV7

£286,356

£223

36

8.0

Wolverhampton

WR15

£322,622

£215

39

8.4

Worcester

 

Yorkshire and the Humber

DN19

£222,574

£153

37

5.7

North Lincolnshire

DN41

£225,549

£165

38

6.3

North East Lincolnshire

DN39

£249,047

£148

44

6.5

North Lincolnshire

 

Wales

SA40

£266,809

£109

38

4.1

Carmarthenshire

SY17

£218,056

£162

30

4.9

Powys

SA34

£261,165

£139

35

4.9

Carmarthenshire

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Table shows the worst postcodes in each region of England and Wales for house price affordability and a low crime rate

Region

Postcode

Average house price

Average £/sq ft

Crime rate

Crime/House Price Affordability Score

Location

East Midlands

NG1

£167,964

£223

661

147.4

Nottingham

DE1

£151,361

£171

598

102.3

Derby

LE1

£127,905

£180

501

90.2

Leicester

 

East of England

RM20

£264,249

£303

478

144.8

Thurrock

CB2

£480,187

£476

221

105.2

Cambridge

WD17

£389,328

£474

215

101.9

Watford

 

London

EC3

£858,868

£1,530

2,532

3,874.0

London

EC4

£766,393

£1,146

1,486

1,703.0

London

WC2

£1,734,536

£960

1,475

1,416.0

London

 

North East

NE1

£161,015

£219

973

213.1

Newcastle

SR1

£69,587

£86

602

51.8

Sunderland

TS18

£145,912

£142

322

45.7

Stockton-on-Tees

 

North West

L2

£140,998

£274

1,953

535.1

Liverpool

L1

£122,789

£217

1,093

237.2

Liverpool

CH1

£218,144

£230

196

45.1

Cheshire West and Chester

 

South East

MK9

£248,782

£328

708

232.2

Milton Keynes

BN1

£399,854

£471

176

82.9

Brighton and Hove

GU1

£420,223

£494

165

81.5

Guildford

 

South West

BS1

£362,702

£390

753

293.7

Bristol

BH2

£235,932

£286

449

128.4

Bournemouth

BH1

£212,340

£258

320

82.6

Bournemouth

 

West Midlands

B2

£184,531

£298

3,006

895.8

Birmingham

B4

£285,134

£254

613

155.7

Birmingham

B5

£212,303

£269

336

90.4

Birmingham

 

Yorkshire and the Humber

LS1

£196,347

£215

1,347

289.6

Leeds

YO1

£379,806

£380

610

231.8

York

BD1

£58,355

£124

1,198

148.6

Bradford

 

Wales

CF10

£178,665

£205

509

104.3

Cardiff

CF11

£207,395

£245

183

44.8

Cardiff

NP20

£183,495

£178

207

36.8

Newport

Tags