This article is an external press release originally published on the Landlord News website, which has now been migrated to the Just Landlords blog.
New findings have highlighted Britain’s, ‘most dangerous,’ University towns and cities, with a number of surprising entries in the top ten.
Perhaps most surprising, was that Brighton, renowned for a laid back living environment and a London-commuter hotspot, came out as the most dangerous area for students to live.
Findings
The investigation, conducted by StuRents.com assessed over 535,000 crimes within student areas in 64 towns and cities across England and Wales in order to ascertain where undergraduates are most at risk. Brighton, Swansea and Stoke on Trent ranked first, second and third.
StuRents.com looked at all recorded crimes against all persons, whether student or non-student, in all prominent student housing areas. This data showed that students in Brighton lived in the area with most recorded crime in 2014, with an average number of 829 incidents per every thousand residents. Swansea recorded an average of 633 crimes per thousand residents, with Stoke on Trent recording 534.[1]
The top-ten most dangerous places were found to be:
- Brighton
- Swansea
- Stoke-on-Trent
- Newcastle
- Stockton
- Sunderland
- Middlesborough
- Bolton
- York
- Wolverhampton[2]
Crimes
StuRents.com stated that the types of crimes committed varied by each area. Brighton saw most sexual assaults, whereas Swansea saw the most drug offences in the last year. Wolverhampton saw the most robberies and Cambridge, not in the top ten, was highlighted as the place where bicycle theft was most prominent.
Co-founder of StuRents.com Michael Rainsford, stated that, ‘crime statistics serve as an important metric for students looking to make an informed choice about where to live.’ Rainsford believes that the survey from StuRents has uncovered, ‘alarming’ statistics that show, ‘students live in areas with crime rates 2.5 times higher than the national average.’[3]
Britain’s Most Dangerous Student Spots
Safety
Mr Rainsford also said that investment in the student accommodation market has been, ‘huge,’ this year. He added that StuRents, ‘hope that going forward, student safety will be high on the agenda.’[4]
On the flip side, the investigation showed that Egham in Surrey, home to the Royal Holloway University, had the lowest level of crime in all student areas. Egham averaged just 57 crimes per every thousand residents in student living placements. High Wycombe ranked as the second safest student area, with Bath at number three.
The top ten safest areas were found to be the following:
- Egham
- High Wycombe
- Bath
- Falmouth
- Bedford
- Loughborough
- Medway
- Norwich
- Durham
- Hull[5]
[1-5] http://snip.ly/hlq2#http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/universityeducation/11542618/Revealed-the-safest-and-most-dangerous-places-to-be-a-student.html
