Tuesday, Jul 29, 2008
My area would probably show up bright red
Telegraph: Crime maps to show offences for every street
Crime maps giving details of offences that have taken place in every street in the country are to be published for the first time.
Residents are to be given access to Google-style internet maps of actual streets identifying assaults, muggings and burglaries in towns and villages across England and Wales, under Home Office plans.
There are concerns that publishing details of neighbourhood crime could affect house prices or that the information could be abused by criminals
Posted by landedgentry @ 01:54 PM (448 views) Add Comment
5 Comments
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1. jack c said...
"James Scott-Lee, a spokesman for the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, added: "In the current economic climate, publicising high crime areas in such detail could literally wipe thousands of pounds off of house prices over night further disadvantaging those who are already struggling to make ends meet." The Council of Mortgage Lenders said it was concerned that the information could create alarm among housebuyers if a town or borough had higher than average crime levels. Sue Anderson, a spokesman, said: "We would be concerned about inappropriate knee jerk consumer reaction or publicity."
These people bleat at anything they think might have the slightest adverse effect on residential property prices - the coming economic storm should however give them justification for whining like a 747 jet engine on take off !
2. bystander said...
personally I'd like to know if an area is street crime central, before I decide to buy, but heaven forbid the UK could penalise criminals, by calling them criminals. Interesting that RICS and CML have had their two penny worth, and think it is innappropriate to warn potential buyers of the dangers because it might affect house prices. What a shitty, nimby, PC infected world we live in. If an area is overrun by crime, then by showing it may make the authorities and those who control public perceptions do something about it.
3. shipbuilder said...
I don't think that this is as easy to call as it first seems - the eventual conclusion of this is ghettoism. House prices are a factor - prices would rocket in the good areas, deepening the divide and limiting the choice for first time buyers to the worst areas. Of course on the other side, the communities may then have an incentive to improve the area. I think that this is academic anyway, because most people know exactly where the 'good' and 'bad' areas are in their towns anyway.
4. Barrym said...
Great idea. Informative for buyers and tenants, plus gives stakeholders - i.e. property owners, real info to challenge local police forces and the government to deal with the issue.
Barry
http://www.chard.co.uk
5. montesquieu said...
This info is already available for those who look for it. There were 5 crimes in my North Somerset village last year (all disorder-related from too much cider too close to closing time I'll bet). 15 miles away in Bristol there are areas where there are more than that in an average afternoon.
Being selfish I'd say publish the info, but in a form you need a bit of intelligence to get at, so that the great unwashed don't get themselves a in tedious, Sun, Star & Daily Express-fuelled moral panic. We have enough ghettos in this country without a map of precisely where they are.
This info could have a far more severe impact on house prices than school league tables - the law of unintended consequences applies very strongly here. The guvmnt should tread very carefully here.