An issue often kept firmly at the back of the minds of most when on the market for a new place to live, crime rates are nonetheless a variable very likely to causea noticeable fluctuation of property prices within today’s market.
The premise of the issue takes little imagination to fathom: the more crime there is in a particular area, the less financially damaging it will ultimately prove to buy a house there.
Though everyone should be free to live without any kind of impending fear of becoming the hapless victim of random crime, regardless of its nature or intent, a realistic viewpoint on things is often the best chance of evasion in the first place.
Every single metropolitan area on planet earth poses as the setting for a criminal act or two each and every day, and this as a point which surely needs no form of proof, evidence or clarification- at least within the confines of this post.
Chester is a city of around 120,000 people which has acted as a hub of north-western English commerce, culture and community since the days of the Roman Empire. In this context (and I for one certainly feel it’s easier to be accepting of crime related statistics in the mind-set that our towns and cities are in effect, thriving hubs of sporadic human endeavour and activity), we can be certain that crime in the area (as beautiful as it may be) is a) existent, and b) absolutely nothing new.
Of course, with a population as steep as 120,000 people, the city’s residential areas are spread out over a number of separate communities- all of which have their own individual rates, reports and subsequent problems when it comes to crime.
With the aforementioned ‘general formula’ of things in mind, let’s take a look at the areas of Chester (and its suburbs/surrounding areas) with the highest rates of reported criminal activity at present:
Chester City Centre
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the area of Chester with the highest rates of crime is the cities central metro area. Cheshire police have disclosed that some 6602 separate criminal incidents have been reported and acted upon in this area over the course of the last 12 months. Whether this figure can be linked to the number of people living in the central area (approx. 90,000 according to the 2011 census), or the nature and lifestyle of these people is surely a no-brainer?
Newton
A suburb located in the northeast of Chester, Newton is the area of the city with the second highest crime rates. Noting a deduction of almost 50% compared to the cities centre, Newton played host to 3417 criminal incidents in the past year. The area is home to a large council estate owned by Chester Council and managed by Chester and District Housing Trust.
Hoole
Lying just south of Newton, Hoole is an urban district which was incorporated into the city of Chester in 1954. A categorically busy place, on account of its close proximity to the city centre as well as regional and national travel links (motorways, railways), 2915 crimes were reported as happening in the area over the past 12 months.
Blacon
Once home to Europe’s largest council estate, Blacon remains a large housing suburb located on Chester’s western edge. Whilst ownership of the areas estates has now transferred from council to housing trust, crime appears to remain and issue for the residents of Blacon. In the last year 2080 isolated criminal incidents were reported.
We’ll continue our investigation into the correlation between crime and housing prices in post number two.
Latest posts by thomas tommy (see all)
- How are house prices in Chester affected by crime rates? - March 15, 2017
No related posts.
