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Crime and bad neighbours top reasons for moving

Monday, 5 March 2007 12:00 AM

Crime levels and bad neighbours are the reason for almost ten million Britons moving home in the last five years.

That is according to a new study from Abbey, which reveals 5.3 million people said their main reason for moving home in the last five years was due to crime levels in their area and a desire to move to a location where they would feel safer.

Living close to "neighbours from hell" saw as many as 4.5 million Britons moving over the past five years, the survey finds.

The third most important reason for moving was schools. Around 2.6 million households said getting into the catchment area of a school was the main reason for why they moved home the last five years.

"Expectations among buyers are becoming more sophisticated and people are relocating further and more frequently in pursuit of the right location," commented Sarah Speight, editor of Whathouse.co.uk.

"Demand for local information is growing and house hunters are increasingly doing their research online before committing to a property."

Ms Speight advised those moving home who want to move to lower crime area to look at the statistics for each location.

"Each police force is divided into Base Command Units (BCUs), which police local neighbourhoods," she explained.

She also added there were consumer and market analysis companies that can provide a "snapshot" of an area, helping movers work out what kind of neighbours they may have, from their income levels to the type of paper they read.

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