If you are buying or renting, you usually want a clear picture of published police records around a postcode — not a vague “safe / unsafe” label. This guide walks through a practical check using official data.police.uk data on CrimeMapsUK.
What “crime rate” usually means online
Many sites talk about crime rates as if every area had a single score. Official open data is more limited:
- it shows recorded street crime and anti-social behaviour, not every incident that happened
- published locations are approximate
- CrimeMapsUK does not invent resident rates or safety scores unless an official matching population denominator exists
Treat the check as due diligence on published records, not a guarantee.
A simple three-step check
1. Start with the force area
Force pages put a city or region in context. For example:
- Crime in London (Metropolitan Police area)
- Crime in Manchester
- Crime in Birmingham
- Crime in Leeds
Browse every loaded area from crime by police force area.
Remember: a force area is much larger than one street. London’s Met page is not the same as one borough or postcode.
2. Use the maps and dashboards
- Crime map — hex density for approximate locations
- Crime statistics — totals, categories, and outcomes by force and month
- Trends and Comparisons — change over time
Read How to read a police crime map and How to interpret the hex maps before drawing strong conclusions from colours alone.
3. Narrow to the postcode with a neighbourhood report
For a documented 0.5 km circle around a specific postcode, order a neighbourhood crime report. The PDF prints the postcode, centre, radius, month window, category mix, and limits.
See How to read a neighbourhood report for what each section means.
What to compare carefully
- Force totals vs a street: different scales; do not treat them as twins
- Two websites with different methods: CrimeMapsUK sticks to published police data and documents the pipeline on the methodology page
- Conveyancing searches: a separate legal process — see Crime checks vs conveyancing searches
Limits to keep in mind
- Under-reporting varies by offence type
- Recent months can be revised after publication
- Outcomes are not court conviction rates
- Approximate locations mean pins are never exact addresses
Next step
If you have a specific postcode in mind, start with a free look at the crime map and the relevant force area page, then order a neighbourhood report when you want a shareable PDF scoped to that postcode.