Safest areas to live in the UK found by research from Homedit
The safest areas to live in the UK have been ranked by design blog Homedit, taking into account six criteria.
This includes crime rates per 1,000 residents, high flood risk, low flood risk, number of buildings covered by fire stations, number of buildings covered by hospitals, and street-light expenditure.
Manchester came top of this ranking as the safest place to live, with a safety score of 85 out of a possible 100. Manchester’s best criteria is its number of buildings within 2km of a fire station, receiving a score of 96.9%. However, Manchester’s lowest score is for its risk of low flooding to buildings, achieving a score of 52.0% in this category.
The safest areas in the UK
| UK district | Best criteria and score | Safety score (/100) | |
| #1 | Manchester | Buildings within 2km of a fire station – 96.9% | 85 |
| #2 | East Riding of Yorkshire | Buildings within 2km of a hospital – 97.2% | 80 |
| #3 | Stockport | Crime rate per 1,000 people – 99.4% | 79 |
| #4 | Trafford | Crime rate per 1,000 people – 97.7% | 77 |
| #5 | Barnet London Borough | Buildings within 2km of a hospital & street-light expenditure – 94.5% | 75 |
| #6 | Cornwall | Buildings within 2km of a fire station – 99.3% | 75 |
| #7 | Wigan | Crime rate per 1,000 people – 99.0% | 74 |
| #8 | Birmingham | Buildings within 2km of a fire station & hospital & street-light expenditure – 100% | 73 |
| #9 | Coventry | Street-light expenditure – 99.3% | 73 |
| =#10 | City of Bristol | Buildings within 2km of a hospital – 98.2% | 72 |
| =#10 | Bury | Crime rate per 1,000 people – 92.9% | 72 |
| =#10 | Croydon London Borough | High flood risk to buildings – 94.6% | 72 |
The least safe place to list, according to the research, is Harlow, with a safety score of 17 out of 100. Homedit points out that most of the low-ranking districts received a very low score for their street-light expenditure, meaning streets could be darker and less safe at night.
The least safe areas in the UK
| UK district | Worst criteria and score | Safety score (/100) | |
| #1 | Harlow | Street-light expenditure – 0.0% | 17 |
| #2 | Wyre Forest | Street-light expenditure – 0.0% | 19 |
| =#3 | Pendle | Street-light expenditure – 0.0% | 21 |
| =#3 | Hyndburn | Street-light expenditure – 0.0% | 21 |
| =#5 | Gravesham | Street-light expenditure – 0.0% | 26 |
| =#5 | North West Leicestershire | Street-light expenditure – 0.0% | 26 |
| =#5 | Brentwood | Buildings within 2km of a hospital – 1.3% | 26 |
| =#8 | Cambridge | Street-light expenditure – 0.0% | 27 |
| =#8 | Worcester | Street-light expenditure – 0.0% | 27 |
| =#10 | Hertsmere | Street-light expenditure – 0.0% | 28 |
| =#10 | North East Derbyshire | Street-light expenditure – 0.0% | 28 |
| =#10 | Spelthorne | Street-light expenditure – 0.0% | 28 |
Best and worst areas for crime
Homedit also researched which UK areas were the best and worst for crime rates. The cities with the lowest crime rates, and therefore the highest safety score for crime, are:
| UK Districts | Crime rate per population of 1,000 | |
| #1 | Scottish Borders | 100% |
| #2 | Dumfries and Galloway | 99.7% |
| #3 | Stockport | 99.4% |
| #4 | Wigan | 99.0% |
| #5 | Wokingham | 98.7% |
| #6 | Broadland | 98.3% |
| #7 | Vale of White Horse | 98.0% |
| #8 | Trafford | 97.7% |
| #9 | Rutland | 97.3% |
| #10 | Torridge | 97.0% |
The cities with the highest crime rates, and therefore the lowest safety score for crime, are:
| UK Districts | Crime rate per population of 1000 (/100) | |
| #1 | City and County of the City of London | 0.0% |
| #2 | Middlesbrough | 0.4% |
| #3 | Blackpool | 0.7% |
| #4 | Burnley | 1.1% |
| #5 | Hartlepool | 1.4% |
| #6 | Preston | 1.8% |
| #7 | Hyndburn | 2.1% |
| #8 | Bradford | 2.4% |
| #9 | City of Westminster London Boro | 2.8% |
| #10 | Lincoln | 3.1% |