Crime rate check by postcode
Crime levels shape how an area feels to live in — and they're one of the first things buyers and tenants ask about. Police forces publish street-level crime data every month through Police.uk, and Address Lens shows incidents at the nearest anonymised point Police.uk reports for a postcode next to the property's sold prices, EPC and risk screening, so the question gets answered with records rather than reputation.
What the crime check shows
- Recent crimes by category — burglary, vehicle crime, anti-social behaviour, violence and the other Police.uk categories, counted at the single anonymised point Police.uk returns nearest the postcode centre.
- Outcomes — what happened to reported crimes where an outcome has been published.
- The pattern, in context — the counts sit alongside the rest of the property's evidence as one limited local signal, rather than a safety verdict.
How to use the crime check
- Search the postcode or full address including its postcode.
- Open the property's report — the neighbourhood card shows recent crime by category with outcomes and the source.
- Compare the pattern and trend rather than reacting to a single month — reporting volumes move seasonally.
How to read the numbers: Police.uk anonymises locations — each crime is snapped to a nearby street-level anchor point, not the address where it happened. Address Lens asks for the postcode centre and Police.uk returns incidents assigned to its single nearest reported point; the counts do not cover a radius or the wider neighbourhood. A low count is not a guarantee of safety. Use the pattern as context for a viewing conversation, not as a verdict on a street.