Balancing Price & Safety: Finding the Right Area to Live

Choosing where to live is one of the biggest decisions you’ll make in your life. While price is often the first filter people apply to their property search, safety—and increasingly, environmental risk—shouldn’t be overlooked. On LookyLooky.me, we combine street-level crime data, sold house price records, and historic flood mapping to give you a complete picture of any neighbourhood in England and Wales—whether you're buying or renting.

Understanding the True Cost of Living

When browsing homes on typical property websites, you’ll often see listings sorted by price or features like number of bedrooms. But the true cost of a home involves more than just the listing price. Is the area safe? Are values rising or falling? Could floods impact insurance premiums or resale value?

At LookyLooky.me, we help you answer these questions with data that goes beyond the property itself. Our sold price explorer lets you see actual sale prices over time in any area. This helps you understand what homes are really selling for—not just what sellers are asking.

Why Crime Matters in Living Decisions

Safety is one of the top concerns for residents, particularly those with children or elderly family members. High crime rates don’t just create personal risk—they can also lower property values, make it harder to get insurance, and contribute to long-term stress.

Using our Interactive Crime Map, you can explore reported crimes on a street-by-street basis. We update the data monthly using open data from Police.uk, giving you an accurate picture of recent incidents such as burglary, anti-social behaviour, theft, or violent crime.

Instead of relying on assumptions or hearsay, you can visually compare different parts of a city or town to find pockets of safety that fit within your budget. For example, a slightly more affordable area may have very low rates of serious crime—ideal for first-time residents or young families.

How Sold Price Data Complements Crime Analysis

On their own, crime statistics can seem intimidating. But when combined with Sold House Price data, they tell a much fuller story. A neighbourhood with some reported crime might still see rising house prices if it’s undergoing regeneration or attracting new investment.

Conversely, an area with minimal crime might show flat or falling house prices—suggesting economic stagnation or other issues. Our platform lets you compare these data points in parallel, giving you deeper insight into which areas are truly “up and coming” and which may not be a wise investment.

Flood Risk: The Overlooked Factor

Climate change is making flooding more common—and more expensive. Many UK homes are located in areas with some level of flood risk, and residents are starting to take this more seriously.

Our Historic Flood Map tool uses data from the Environment Agency to show you areas that have flooded in the past. It’s one of the few tools available to the public that makes this information easily accessible and visual.

Why does this matter? Flood risk can affect mortgage availability, insurance costs, and resale value. Even if a home hasn’t flooded recently, being in a high-risk zone can make it harder to sell or more expensive to maintain.

Case Study: Finding the Sweet Spot

Let’s say you’re looking for a 3-bedroom home in Nottingham, either to buy under £275,000 or to rent within your monthly budget. You’ve found two potential areas:

Using LookyLooky.me, you can compare sold price trends over time, evaluate recent crimes within a 500m radius, and check the flood maps for each postcode. You may find that Area B’s crime is largely seasonal and related to student population, while Area A’s flood risk includes costly mitigation requirements.

This kind of nuanced analysis helps you move beyond the headline numbers and find a place that’s truly right for your lifestyle and financial goals.

How to Use LookyLooky.me to Guide Your Search

  1. Use the search bar to enter a postcode, street, or area.
  2. View the crime map for recent incidents—toggle by month or category.
  3. Switch to sold house price data to see historic sale trends.
  4. Open the flood risk layer to check for previous flood events.
  5. Compare multiple locations using shared views or side-by-side exploration.

All of these tools are free, and built with transparency and ease of use in mind. We want everyone—from first-time residents to experienced investors—to feel confident in their housing decisions.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the crime data reliable? Yes. All our crime data comes from the UK Home Office and Police.uk, updated monthly.

How often is the property price data updated? We use the UK Land Registry's public dataset, refreshed monthly to reflect recent sales.

What if the area I want isn’t covered? We cover all England and Wales locations included in government data sources. If you don’t see results, try broadening your search slightly.

Final Thoughts

Choosing where to live isn’t just about bricks and mortar. It’s about security, future value, and peace of mind. By considering not just price, but also crime and flood risk, you empower yourself to make smarter decisions.

LookyLooky.me brings together the public datasets you need—in one clean, easy-to-use platform—so you can find a place that’s not only affordable, but sustainable, safe, and a good fit for your life.