Fastest increasing home prices situated in regions with highest crime rates - check your area's standing.
In an unexpected turn of events, house prices in several UK towns and cities with higher crime rates have seen significant increases over the past five years, while safer areas have experienced more modest growth.
Wakefield, ranked ninth to last in terms of safety, has witnessed a 34.6% increase in average house prices. This trend is echoed in Worthing, ranked ninth, with a 25.3% increase, and Doncaster, ranked third to last in terms of safety, which has seen a 39.4% rise.
In contrast, Poole, Dorset, the safest place in the country by crime rate, has only seen an average house price rise of 15.4% over the same period. However, even in Blackpool, the town with the highest crime rate, house prices have increased by 33.8%.
Babek Ismayil, founder at OneDome, attributes this trend to affordability issues, stating that lack of affordability is the primary factor driving up house prices in areas with higher crime rates. Justin Moy, Managing Director at EHF Mortgages, suggests that the data may also be influenced by landlord activities and buy-to-let property investments in less safe locations.
The data reflects a wider and well-established trend of gentrification, with Katy Eatenton, a mortgage and protection specialist, noting that gentrification is taking place at a street, area, and even town and city level. This process often brings in more affluent residents and reduces crime in the short term, but can lead to displacement and significant changes in the socio-economic makeup of neighborhoods.
Areas with persistent crime issues often coincide with deeper economic challenges such as unemployment or lack of investment, which suppresses house price gains. Conversely, safer towns often have stronger local economies, stable populations, and better amenities that support house price increases.
Regional variation and local market effects also play a crucial role. Even within the UK, regional differences in income levels, employment, and housing supply interplay with crime rates to influence price trajectories diversely.
With mortgage rates still high and a cost-of-living crisis continuing to squeeze household budgets, people are moving to towns and cities where they can get that first step on the property ladder. As a result, many higher crime areas are experiencing rapid house price growth, despite their safety concerns.
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- The surge in house prices in areas with higher crime rates, such as Wakefield, Worthing, and Doncaster, has become a topic of discussion in the general news and personal finance segments, raising questions about the impact of crime rates on real-estate investing.
- Political analysts are closely monitoring the relationship between finance and housing-market trends, particularly the influence of landlords and buy-to-let property investments in less safe locations like Doncaster, on the overall economy.
- Several financial experts, including Katy Eatenton and Justin Moy, have linked the increased house prices in crime-prone areas to the process of gentrification, which, while bringing in more affluent residents and reducing crime in the short term, can lead to long-term displacement and significant changes in the socio-economic makeup of neighborhoods.
- Economic researchers are studying the interplay between crime rates, local incomes, employment, and housing supply in various UK regions, aiming to understand how these factors influence price trajectories differently and contribute to both house price growth in areas like Blackpool and modest growth in safer towns like Poole.
