U.K. hotspots for theft and burglary .... Is your property safe and secure?
Posted by: chumley
on Sep 24, 2009 
Tagged in: Untagged
When doing due diligence on a property, one of the things I always check is the level of crime in the area.
Crime has a serious impact on house prices and tenant demand, so it's important to understand what goes on in an area you are considering buying in. A female tenant is not going to rent your property if she feels afraid to walk home alone at night.
Areas with high levels of drug and alcohol-related crime are not going to attract good quality tenants, and house prices may be negatively impacted.
This article suggests that, because of the economic woes of this country, crime is on the increase, and will become increasingly an issue in society.
This recent article is worth noting.
U.K. hotspots for theft and burglary
Homes in London and Nottingham are the most likely in the UK to make a claim for theft or burglary on their home insurance, according to research from moneysupermarket.com.
Moneysupermarket analysed 2.6 million home insurance enquiries on the site last year and found London held five of the top 20 postcode districts most at risk of theft or burglary, followed closely by Nottingham which has four.
Beware citizens of Clapham and Hornsey
The research revealed SW11 in Clapham and N8 in Hornsey are the most risky postcode districts in London, and NG5 in Arnold and NG2 in West Bridgford claim the top spots for Nottingham - NG5 also takes the top spot overall, ranking it as the riskiest place to live.
Other postcode districts at high risk of theft and burglary include LE3 in Leicester as well as Ellesmere Port in Cheshire.
Julie Owens, head of home insurance at moneysupermarket.com commented "The research highlights a broad mix of areas across the North and South of the UK so it is clear that no matter where you live, there is always a risk you could become a victim of theft or burglary".
"With the UK in the midst of recession, and recent ABI statistics reporting that in the first quarter of 2009, the cost of burglary insurance claims topped £100 million, making it the most expensive quarter for five years."
Here are the percentage of home insurance policies claimed on over 12 months by area:
Arnold, Notts, 0.42%
Leicester, Leicestershire, 0.35%
West Bridgford, Notts, 0.33%
Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, 0.32%
Rounday, Leeds, 0.31%
Clapham, London, 0.31%
Sheffield, South Yorks, 0.29%
Hornsey, London, 0.28%
Croydon, Surrey, 0.28%
Hove, East Sussex, 0.28%
Sherwood, Notts, 0.27%
Bilborough, Notts, 0.26%
Beckenham, Kent, 0.25%
Manchester, Greater Manchester, 0.21%
Grossgates, Leeds, 0.25%
Walthamstow, London, 0.24%
Bristol, Avon, 0.24%
Fulham, London, 0.24%
Forest Hill, London, 0.24%
Maidenhead, Berks, 0.24%
Article ends.
We have a really healthy discussion on this topic going on over our our Property Tribes forum.
Richard Francis contributed the following invaluable advice:
1) Remove most of the concealing (above head height) shrubbery and hedging from the front of houses and ground-floor flats close to the road. Dark thick screens are a burglar's dream.
2) Don't leave your HD 50" TV / £10k hifi and home cinema etc in full view through a ground-floor window.
3) Get obviously good quality locks that are VISIBLE.
4) If you have a gate - make sure it closes behind you on a spring - you'd be amazed how many casual thieves are deterred by a shut gate - it's simple psychology - but works.
5) If you have a side passage get a gate and a light with an infra-red sensor (though try and avoid those 500W floods that you could play 5-a-side under - it really hacks off your neighbours not to mention running up a huge electricity bill.
6) If you really must have 'bling' on display - use bamboo blinds or similar to reduce visibility into rooms.
7) Encourage tenants not to do that really stupid thing when away for a holiday - leaving half-drawn curtains. Get a timer or two from IKEA and attach small lamps with low energy saving bulbs to them.
If you own a holiday let and have an on-line availability calendar, note that thieves are using these to work out when a property might be empty!
If you would like to connect with other serious and committed investors who share valuable insights like these, please join our Property Tribes forum and our off-line networking event in Guildford, Surrey.
Our next event is on Monday 26th October, and we have Chartered Surveyor Nick Dare coming to talk to us with a presentation entitled "Prospects for London and South East property markets". Nick is a real numbers man, so expect expert analysis!
Full details for our event can be found here.
Crime has a serious impact on house prices and tenant demand, so it's important to understand what goes on in an area you are considering buying in. A female tenant is not going to rent your property if she feels afraid to walk home alone at night.
Areas with high levels of drug and alcohol-related crime are not going to attract good quality tenants, and house prices may be negatively impacted.
This article suggests that, because of the economic woes of this country, crime is on the increase, and will become increasingly an issue in society.
This recent article is worth noting.
U.K. hotspots for theft and burglary
Homes in London and Nottingham are the most likely in the UK to make a claim for theft or burglary on their home insurance, according to research from moneysupermarket.com.
Moneysupermarket analysed 2.6 million home insurance enquiries on the site last year and found London held five of the top 20 postcode districts most at risk of theft or burglary, followed closely by Nottingham which has four.
Beware citizens of Clapham and Hornsey
The research revealed SW11 in Clapham and N8 in Hornsey are the most risky postcode districts in London, and NG5 in Arnold and NG2 in West Bridgford claim the top spots for Nottingham - NG5 also takes the top spot overall, ranking it as the riskiest place to live.
Other postcode districts at high risk of theft and burglary include LE3 in Leicester as well as Ellesmere Port in Cheshire.
Julie Owens, head of home insurance at moneysupermarket.com commented "The research highlights a broad mix of areas across the North and South of the UK so it is clear that no matter where you live, there is always a risk you could become a victim of theft or burglary".
"With the UK in the midst of recession, and recent ABI statistics reporting that in the first quarter of 2009, the cost of burglary insurance claims topped £100 million, making it the most expensive quarter for five years."
Here are the percentage of home insurance policies claimed on over 12 months by area:
Arnold, Notts, 0.42%
Leicester, Leicestershire, 0.35%
West Bridgford, Notts, 0.33%
Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, 0.32%
Rounday, Leeds, 0.31%
Clapham, London, 0.31%
Sheffield, South Yorks, 0.29%
Hornsey, London, 0.28%
Croydon, Surrey, 0.28%
Hove, East Sussex, 0.28%
Sherwood, Notts, 0.27%
Bilborough, Notts, 0.26%
Beckenham, Kent, 0.25%
Manchester, Greater Manchester, 0.21%
Grossgates, Leeds, 0.25%
Walthamstow, London, 0.24%
Bristol, Avon, 0.24%
Fulham, London, 0.24%
Forest Hill, London, 0.24%
Maidenhead, Berks, 0.24%
Article ends.
We have a really healthy discussion on this topic going on over our our Property Tribes forum.
Richard Francis contributed the following invaluable advice:
1) Remove most of the concealing (above head height) shrubbery and hedging from the front of houses and ground-floor flats close to the road. Dark thick screens are a burglar's dream.
2) Don't leave your HD 50" TV / £10k hifi and home cinema etc in full view through a ground-floor window.
3) Get obviously good quality locks that are VISIBLE.
4) If you have a gate - make sure it closes behind you on a spring - you'd be amazed how many casual thieves are deterred by a shut gate - it's simple psychology - but works.
5) If you have a side passage get a gate and a light with an infra-red sensor (though try and avoid those 500W floods that you could play 5-a-side under - it really hacks off your neighbours not to mention running up a huge electricity bill.
6) If you really must have 'bling' on display - use bamboo blinds or similar to reduce visibility into rooms.
7) Encourage tenants not to do that really stupid thing when away for a holiday - leaving half-drawn curtains. Get a timer or two from IKEA and attach small lamps with low energy saving bulbs to them.
If you own a holiday let and have an on-line availability calendar, note that thieves are using these to work out when a property might be empty!
If you would like to connect with other serious and committed investors who share valuable insights like these, please join our Property Tribes forum and our off-line networking event in Guildford, Surrey.
Our next event is on Monday 26th October, and we have Chartered Surveyor Nick Dare coming to talk to us with a presentation entitled "Prospects for London and South East property markets". Nick is a real numbers man, so expect expert analysis!
Full details for our event can be found here.
