How we show local crime information

The crime card on each listing and school page shows two different measures: incidents near the location and a neighbourhood rate used for comparisons. Both are derived from police-recorded data published on police.uk for the last 12 complete months (the current partial month is excluded).

Sources

• UK Police street-level crimes (police.uk).
• ONS Lower Layer Super Output Area (LSOA) boundaries and population estimates.

1) Incidents near this location (Local crime overview)

• Police-recorded incidents from UK Police (police.uk).
• Aggregated within approximately 1–2 miles of the location.
• The radius may expand up to ~2 miles to ensure a meaningful sample size.
• Last 12 complete months (no partial month).
• This is a nearby-area measure and may include neighbouring areas.
• A breakdown of the top crime categories is shown, with remaining types grouped as “Other”.

2) Neighbourhood rate (crimes per 1,000 residents)

• Based on all LSOA neighbourhoods within ~1 mile of the location.
• Crimes and population are summed across all intersecting LSOAs.
• Rate = (total LSOA crimes ÷ total LSOA population) × 1,000.
• England and borough/LAD comparisons use the same LSOA-based method.

3) Crime level badge (Very low → Very high)

The badge is based on the ratio of the neighbourhood rate to the England & Wales average for the same 12-month period:

• Very low crime — ≤ 50% of the England & Wales average
• Low crime — 50%–80%
• Average crime — 80%–120%
• High crime — 120%–160%
• Very high crime — > 160%

4) Trend vs previous 12 months

• The trend compares total incidents in the current 12-month window against the previous 12 months.
• Shown as a percentage change (up, down, or flat if within ±3%).
• Previous-period data may not always be available from the source.

Notes and caveats

• Not all crimes are reported or recorded; recording practices vary between police forces.
• Data may be incomplete, delayed, or subject to revision by the source.
• Some police forces may not publish data to police.uk at all times (e.g. Greater Manchester Police data is currently unavailable due to an IT system migration).
• The radius-based incident count and the LSOA-based neighbourhood rate use different geographic methods — small differences between the two are normal.
• Population figures are from the most recent ONS estimates and may not reflect very recent changes.
• This information should not be relied upon as a measure of personal safety or property selection.