New Online Tool Combines Open Datasets to Discover UK's Nicest Areas

NiceAreas.co.uk allows people to search for the 'nicest' areas in mainland UK broken down into over 10,000 postcode sectors based on a number of criteria including crime, jobs, transport links, school performance and house prices.

Whether the aim is to search for a new area to live in or find out more about the area a person is currently residing or maybe just sheer curiosity, NiceAreas.co.uk has combined and aggregated open data sources published by government departments and third party sources to provide a searchable set of free online tools.

Birstall, a mainly multi-ethnic suburbia in Leicester (Postcode Sector LE4 4) in the East Midlands is found to be the most 'average' part of mainland UK as statistics show it sits in the middle for crime, house prices, schools and local jobs. The median house price in Birstall is £190,000 - maxing out at £230,000. 620 jobs are advertised within 10 miles with an average salary of £30k. The local train station is within 2 miles and nearest motorway junction less than 5 miles.

Fulham in London with a middle house price of £550,000 is the most expensive area with the highest crime rate in the UK with the SW6 district counting over 7,000 crimes compared to the UK mainland district average of 2,500. Croasdale in Cumbria is the cheapest area with the lowest crime rate counting only 137 crimes and a £65,000 middle house price.

The E15 1 postcode sector of West Ham in London has the highest crime rate of the UK, with the SN13 8 postcode sector of Corsham in Wiltshire having the lowest crime rate.

The following combinations of data provide an interesting picture to the UK's towns, cities, suburbs and other localities: census data, land registry sold house price data, categorised police crime data, advertised jobs data, schools and college performance data, motorway junction locations and train station locations.

Ray Arman, creator of NiceAreas.co.uk produced the App initially to help sift through possible areas to move to when deciding upon relocating for work but realised the data collected would be useful for many others in the same situation.

An example search could be somebody for looking a place to live within 20 minutes of a particular location by public transport - but the area must have a relatively low crime rate out of other areas in the distance.

Using the location set as the 'City of London' the website returns the top 20 matching locations - naming postcode 'E20 3' Olympic Park, 'N6 6' Parliament Hill and 'SW8 5' Lambeth as the top 3. Each area is given a traffic light system to describe crime in the district, sector, house prices and jobs nearby.

With the latest data update the website has released the following top statistical data gathered (provided below in tabulated form including individual crime categories) as well as an infographic of the highlights.

Cheapest Areas with the Lowest Crime Rates (12 month period)

1. Croasdale, Cleator Moor, Cumbria, North West (CA23) (Top population category: 47 percent Rural Tenants) (137 crimes, mainland average is 2,312) (£65k median house price)
2. Crughywel, Llangattock, Powys, Wales (NP8) (Top population category: 25 percent Agricultural farming communities) (310 crimes, mainland average is 2,484) (£70k median house price)
3. Fulford, Forsbrook, Staffordshire, West Midlands (ST11) (Top population category: 22 percent Ageing Semi-detached Suburbia) (568 crimes, mainland average is 2,472) (£70k median house price)

1. Fulham, Hammersmith, London (SW6) (Top population category: 29 percent Aspiring and affluent EU white-collar workers) (7,101 crimes, mainland average is 2,512) (£549k median house price)
2. Camden Town, London (NW1) (Top population category: 52 percent Endeavouring ethnic mix, Bangladeshi mixed employment) (14,772 crimes, mainland average is 2,512) (£512k median house price)
3. Clapham, Lambeth, London (SW4) (Top population category: 34 percent Aspiring and affluent EU white-collar workers) (5,954 crimes, mainland average is 2,512) (£500k median house price)

Top Drug Offences Areas (12 month period)

1. Postcode sector - NW1 8 - Primose Hill, London (Top population category: New EU Tech Workers)
2. Postcode sector CR0 1 - Croydon, London (Top population category: Established Tech Workers)
3. Postcode sector SW9 7 - Lambeth, London (Top population category: Established Renting Families)

Top Weapons Possession Areas (12 month period)

1. Postcode sector WD17 2 - Watford, Hertfordshire (Top population category: Young Families and Students)
2. Postcode sector HP2 5 - Highfield, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire (Top population category: Multi-ethnic Hardship)
3. Postcode sector HP2 6 - Piccotts End, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire (Top population category: Social Renting Young Families)

Top ASBO Areas (12 month period)

1. Postcode sector DE23 8 - Rose Hill, Heatherton Village, Derby, East Midlands (Top population category: Pakistani Communities)
2. Postcode sector TS1 4 - Middlesborough Town Centre, Middlesborough, North East (Top population category: Asian Terraces and Flats)
3. Postcode sector S5 8 - Parson Cross, Norton, Sheffield, Yorkshire (Top population category: Hard-Pressed Ethnic Mix)

Top Car Crime Areas (12 month period)

1. Postcode sector E16 3 - East Ham, London (Top population category: Established Renting Families)
2. Postcode sector E16 1 - East Ham, London (Top population category: Established Renting Families)
3. Postcode sector BD3 7 - Thornbury, Queensbury, Bradford (Top population category: Pakistani Communities)

Top Bike Theft Areas (12 month period)

1. Postcode sector CB2 1 - Great Shelford, Cambridgeshire (Top population category: Student Communal Living)
2. Postcode sector CB1 1 - Fulbourn, Cambridgeshire (Top population category: Students and Professionals)
3. Postcode sector OX4 1 - Headington Hill, Oxford (Top population category: Students and Professionals)

Top Criminal Damage Areas (12 month period)

1. Postcode sector HU7 4 - Bransholme, Hull, Kingston-upon-Hull (Top population category: Young Hard-Pressed Families)
2. Postcode sector LS14 6 - The Green, Killingbeck, Leeds (Top population category: Hard-Pressed Ethnic Mix)
3. Postcode sector NN3 8 - Round Spinney, Northampton (Top population category: Social Renting Young Families)

Top Robbery/Burglary Areas (12 month period)

1. Postcode sector SY3 6 - Radbrook, Shrewsbury, Shropshire (Top population category: Self-Sufficient Retirement)
2. Postcode sector HG2 9 - Pannal Ash, Harrogate, North Yorkshire (Top population category: Ageing in Suburbia)
3. Postcode sector NE66 3 - Denwick, Northumberland (Top population category: Rural Employment and Retirees)

Top Violent/Sexual Crime Areas (12 month period)

1. Postcode sector SS1 2 - Southchurch, Southend-on-Sea, East of England (Top population category: Migrant Families)
2. Postcode sector CR0 1 - Croydon, London (Top population category: Established Tech Workers)
3. Postcode sector E15 1 - Stratford New Town, Stratford, London (Top population category: Young Families and Students)

Top Overall Crimes (All Types) Areas (12 month period)

1. West Ham, Stratford, London (E15 1) (Top population category: 66 percent Ethnic Young Families and Students) (4,933 crimes)
2. Brighton, Brighton and Hove, South East (BN1 1) (Top population category: 69 percent Multicultural Student Neighbourhood) (4,764 crimes)
3. Southend-on-Sea, East of England (SS1 2) (Top population category: 21 percent Migrant Families) (4,257 crimes)

Lowest Overall Crimes (All Types) Areas (12 month period)

1. Corsham, Wiltshire, South West (SN13 8) (Top population category: 26 percent Urban White Professionals) (~ 100 crimes)
2. Monument, City of London (EC3R 7) (Top population category: 100 percent Aspiring and Affluent Highly-Qualified Quarternary Workers) (~ 100 crimes)
3. Middlesborough Town Centre, Middlesborough (TS1 9) (Top population category: 97 percent Asian Terraces and Flats) (~ 100 crimes)

Most Expensive Areas to Buy a Home (Median Pricing)

1. Esher, Surrey, South East (KT10 1) (Median Price: £3.25M) (Top population category: 85 percent Self-Sufficient Retirement)
2. Deanery Mews, Westminster, London (W1K 1) (Median Price: £3.0M) (Top population category: 95 percent Aspiring and Affluent Highly-Qualified Quarternary Workers)
3. Mayfair, Westminster, London (W1J 8) (Median Price: £2.7M) (Top population category: 100 percent Aspiring and Affluent Highly-Qualified Quarternary Workers)

Cheapest Areas to Buy a Home (Median Pricing)

1. Burnley, Lancashire (KT10 1) (Median Price: £50k) (Top population category: 33 percent Pakistani Communities)
2. Darwen, Blackburn with Darwen (BB3 0) (Median Price: £50k) (Top population category: 20 percent White Surburban Communities)
3. Clayton le Moors, Accrington, Lancashire (BB5 2) (Median Price: £50k) (Top population category: 40 percent White Surburban Communities)

Areas with Highest Sold Price Growth Since 2016 (Median Pricing)

1. Farringdon, London (EC4M 9)
2. Westminster, London (W1S 3)
3. Shiplate, Hutton, North Somerset (BS24 6)

Areas with Lowest Sold Price Growth Since 2016 (Median Pricing)

1. Manchester, Greater Manchester (M2 6)
2. Oxford, Oxfordshire (OX1 3)
3. Newtown, Great Shelford Cambridgeshire (CB2 3)

Areas within Catchment of the Best Secondary Schools

1. Stratford upon Avon, Warwickshire (CV37 9)
2. Orpington, Bromley, Greater London (BR6 9)
3. Chelmsford, Essex (CM1 1)

About

Let's give an area more than just a name.

Browsing a map does little more than just show the particular areas and locations alongside establishments and services. NiceAreas.co.uk aims to give each area more than just a name but a description with real detailed statistics.

Shortlisting areas when relocating can be difficult considering the many factors that go into making the decision. NiceAreas.co.uk was initially created as a personal project to allow multiple factors to be simultaneously considered in a single location search - but is now available online and in app form for everyone!

We use multiple data sources and combine/aggregate figures ourselves to create, in some cases, scoring, to be able to quickly filter through over 10,000 postcode sectors.

Data sources cover aspects from house prices, crime stats (and specific crimes), advertised jobs, motorway junctions, train stations, primary to college education establishments. We also mix in data from the last census.

This application is in constant development and new features will be added to provide more functionality and data as time goes on!