Manchester is the safest city to live in the UK, says new study

When it comes to buying or renting a new home, location is a huge consideration. Not just for criteria like transport links, local schools and amenities, but also how safe the area is, whether there’s much crime, or if the area is prone to severe weather events such as flooding. 

Interested in finding out which areas of the UK are the safest to buy a home, Homedit.com created a ranking of all UK areas and ranked them on six criteria in order to determine the safest places to live. The six criteria are 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.

The survey revealed that the safest area to buy a home in the UK is Manchester, with a final safety score of 85/100.

To determine the safest areas to live in the UK, Homedit analysed the following five key factors in each district in the UK: crime rates, flood risks, the number of buildings within a 2km radius of a fire station, the number of buildings within a 2km radius of a hospital, and street-light maintenance.

Manchester’s best criteria are 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.

Unsurprisingly in third place, due to its proximity to first place, is Stockport situated in Greater Manchester. The research found the district is one of the safest areas to live in the UK, with a safety score of 79 out of 100, predominantly due to its high street-light expenditure, low crime and flood risks.

Stockport’s best criteria is its low crime rate per 1,000 people – receiving a near-perfect 99.4%. Conversely, its lowest score is for its risk of low flooding to buildings, achieving a score of 40.7% in this category.