Where does crime actually touch the wealthiest towns in England and Wales?

The findings, one line each

• Burglary is 6.1% of recorded crime in the thirty wealthiest towns, against 3.7% in a sample of forty towns across England and Wales.
• Vehicle crime is 9.0% of recorded crime in the wealthiest towns, against 4.9% in the comparison towns.
• Violence and sexual offences are 36.6% of recorded crime in the wealthiest towns, against 47.5% in the comparison towns.
• In the wealthiest towns, burglary from October to January averaged 47% more a month than from April to July; in the comparison towns the two periods were level.
• Around London’s ten most expensive postcode districts, theft from the person is 13.8% of recorded crime; around the wealthy commuter towns it is 1.4%.
• The median wealthy town recorded 42 burglaries in a year within a mile of its centre — fewer than one a week across the whole area.

Each line is a share of recorded crime, not a rate per household, and each can be quoted on its own with a link to this page.

Burglary follows the clocks

Across the thirty wealthiest towns, recorded burglaries were highest in October and September and lowest in April. September to January carried the most; April to June the fewest. In the comparison towns the monthly count stayed within a narrow band all year.

The data does not say why. Larger houses set back behind hedges and gates are easier to approach unseen once it is dark before anyone is home, which fits the pattern. The practical point is timing. Checking lighting, alarm settings and what the house looks like after dark belongs in September, not after the first break-in on the road. A residential survey looks at exactly this, and cover while you are away matters most in the months when the house is dark by five.

London is a different pattern

Around Knightsbridge, Belgravia, Marylebone, Chelsea, South Kensington, Kensington, Notting Hill, Barnes and Hampstead — the ten postcode districts with the highest share of £1m-plus sales — the largest categories after violence are theft: other theft at 16.3% and theft from the person at 13.8%. Burglary, at 5.7%, is a similar share to the commuter towns. The risk moves from the house to the street: the watch on a wrist at a restaurant table, the phone in a hand at the kerb.

That is why the answer in London is usually about habits and journeys rather than hardware. Watch theft in London sets out what reduces the risk, and the local context panel on each London location page shows the latest month’s figures for that area.

What the figures mean in proportion

None of this means wealthy towns are dangerous. Around the median wealthy town centre, police recorded 42 burglaries in a year across every home and business within a mile — a smaller number than around the median comparison town, which is generally larger. A larger share of a smaller total is the accurate summary.

What the shares do show is where the attention goes. In the commuter-belt towns it goes to houses and cars, and it rises in the dark months. In prime London it goes to what people carry. The proportionate response follows the pattern: for most households a few changes to lighting, routines and what is visible from the road, and a look at what the public record gives away — rather than officers on the door. The FAQ covers when more than that is warranted.

Method

Both sources are published under the Open Government Licence: data.police.uk and HM Land Registry Price Paid Data. Anyone can repeat the method.

Common questions