The new Home Office Crime Maps website was launched last week with the suggestion that the information would make the police more accountable to local communities. The launch obviously caused a stir as the website had crashed by late morning.
One of the arguments against the virtue of making such information freely available was the use that may be made of it by Estate Agents or Insurance Companies. House prices might be artificially hiked on the basis of the property being located in a 'no crime area', and premiums might go up in high crime streets.
The fear is, the information will be used to the disadvantage of the potential home buyer/renter and home insurer.Would this in turn mean that lower crime areas insurance premiums would go down, or that higher crime rate areas rental value will suddenly decrease?
Paramount Properties Director Mark Grieg said “While School catchment areas have had a significant impact on the price of property in areas of North West London it seems unlikely that the crime maps will have much impact. Home buyers and Renters have usually done their research on which area of the city they want to live in. The information provided by this website will not be a surprise to most. A neighbourhood watch scheme has never really been a selling point.”
At the top of most home buyers want lists will be number of bedrooms, good schools, green spaces, future planning and development of the area and council tax bands. Crime statistics will simply be added to the list of information and the house will be bought or rented on consideration of all factors. The more information a home buyer can gain before buying a house, the better.
"An area with no crime will be extremely difficult to find; burglars don’t mind which postcode they steal a flat screen TV from." said Mr Grieg."We have all looked at our homes on Google Street View, and we will probably all take a look at crime rates on ours and our friend’s neighbourhoods. It will be interesting to see whether the site continues to be so popular.”
London Property News
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