When looking for a new place to live, there are loads of factors to consider. House prices are important, as is your commute, the number of decent schools, and the quality of public transport. You also want to be assured that you’ll feel safe wherever you end up. To help you figure that last bit out, the safest areas the UK, according security training platform Get Licensed, have just been revealed.
To create the ranking, Get Licensed looked at factors like crime rate per 1,000 people, year-on-year change in crime severity, reoffending rates, the number of CCTV cameras in public spaces and the number of licensed security personnel.
The list of the UK’s top 10 safest places is mostly occupied by areas of London. Only four places outside of the capital city made the cut. While the south London town of Sutton was declared the safest place in the country, the Shropshire borough of Telford and Wrekin came a close second.
Telford and Wrekin was given an overall safety score of 8 out of 10 thanks to a low annual crime rate of 76.5 offences per 1,000 people, a year-on-year decrease in crime of 7.53 and a particularly high share of public CCTV cameras – 533 per 100,000 people compared to Sutton’s 230. That’s the fourth highest of all the areas included in the index and, Get Licensed said, means that ‘if a crime is committed, it’s highly likely to be caught on camera’.
The only other non-London areas to make it into the top 10 were Dundee at number four, Swindon at number six and Slough (supposedly the most ‘miserable’ town in the country) at number eight.
When it comes to the UK’s least safe spots, seven places outside of London were named and shamed. They were Nottingham, Bristol, Blackpool, Middlesborough, Newcastle, Leicester and Manchester. That said, London is still apparently home to the country’s two most dangerous areas – Camden and Islington.
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