A new study of the 30 largest cities in the UK identifies the safest places to live, so you can put your mind at ease when moving.
Featuring analysis of local crime, property age and ground movement, A&E response times (as well as doctors per person in the local area), and the frequency of thunderstorms in that area, it’s a comprehensive insight into the safety of the UK.
Strong and Stable Locales
Compare the Market found that the top locations for risk-free living were as follows:
1. Birmingham – Birmingham sees a good level of safety across the board, with its security peaking in terms of young properties with a minimum of ground movement in the area.
2. Belfast – While Belfast fell a little behind the other top-scoring cities in terms of crime rates, it had the fewest incidents of flooding and thunderstorms across the study, as well as for youngest properties and lack of ground movement.
3. Derby – Average crime and weather scores are brought up by excellent healthcare in Derby, with 92% of ambulances responding in less than 8 minutes.
4. Plymouth – Down in the southwest of England, Plymouth sees minimal crime and a low number of negative incidents throughout the other aspects of the study.
5. Manchester – Sitting in 5th position overall, Manchester is also in the top 5 for lowest crime levels overall for its population.
Risky Wales
Of the two cities in Wales included in the study, Swansea and Cardiff, Swansea was the safer – but not by much, as it secured a rank of only 23 of 30 in the study, falling behind London and Nottingham.
While crime was among the lowest in the country and weather was reassuringly temperate, it suffered in its medical statistics, with only 74% of A&E attendances having a wait time of under 4 hours, the lowest in the country (compared with a high of 94% in Aberdeen).
Cardiff fared even worse, coming in at 27th, meaning the only locations less safe were Kingston upon Hull, Southampton and Peterborough. Crime was low there as well, and like Swansea, it was pulled down in terms of medical response, with a low number of doctors per 1000 members of the population – 0.61, the UK’s lowest.
Ambulance response time was high while the number of life-threatening calls being dealt with inside 8 minutes was low, making it a slow-running location for a 999 call.
Cracking the Safe
Whether you’re looking to find a safe spot to set up shop with your family, or need to know more about where you’re already living, see the rest of the cities as well as a breakdown of London boroughs on the interactive tool here.
