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The Safest Places to Live in the UK in 2026

May 20, 2024
By Aminah Barnes

Location is one of the most important factors to consider when buying a new home (alongside affordability of course). One of the factors that make a good location is how safe the area is. This means it’s not only important to find the cities in the UK that have good amenities, schools and transport links, but also low crime rates. That’s why we decided to analyse the crime index of 105 towns and cities in the UK to reveal the safest cities across the UK to buy a home in 2024, according to the latest, available data. See if you can guess which cities made it into the top 10!

The top 5 safest cities in the UK for homebuyers

The North Yorkshire town of Harrogate, known for its spas and hot chocolate (and now – low crime index of 17.44) has officially been awarded as the best place to buy a home, if you’re looking for a safe area with low crime rates.

Fellow market town Wokingham came in second place of the safest cities in 2026 to buy a home, which – similarly to Chester in third place, is famed for its Tudor-style properties. In fourth and fifth place are Sevenoaks and Horsham, found in Kent and West Sussex respectively, cementing the South East of England as one of the safest regions in the UK.

Here’s the list of top 5 safest cities to buy a home in the UK 2026:

Harrogate
Wokingham
Chester
Sevenoaks
Horsham

House prices in some of these areas are on the higher side too. According to Right Move, properties in Harrogate average at £397,105, while Horsham homes sell for an average of £441,414.

As you can see, many of the safest cities are located close to major towns – particularly London if you look a the top 10. This means that if you’re looking for somewhere that’s fairly close or a commutable distance to work, but don’t necessarily want to live in the city centre, you could choose one of the safer surrounding areas.

The safest UK regions to purchase your first home

From comparing over 100 towns and cities in the UK by crime index rate, lower crimes rates typically fall in the South East and East, with some exceptions in the North West. For homebuyers, this infers that you’re more likely to get a home in a safe neighbourhood if you focus your property search in these regions.

What’s interesting about these regions is that they’re home/close to major cities like London, Manchester, Leeds and Liverpool. Yet, for obvious reasons, the inner cities tend to be lower down the list of safest places to buy a home. Crime index rates will pretty much always be higher in major urban cities than outskirts, but it does show how you can balance both safe suburban areas to live with close proximity to a bustling major city.

Full table of safest cities in the UK to buy a home

Find the full list of 105 towns and cities ranked by their crime index score. Use the table to see the safest towns and cities, as well as the least safe. You can also search for individual places using the search bar to see where they rank.

Rank	Town/City	Crime Index
1	Harrogate	17.44
2	Wokingham	20.17
3	Chester	21.56
4	Sevenoaks	21.62
5	Horsham	22.48
6	St Albans	23.52
7	Salisbury	23.66
8	Windsor	24.51
9	Guildford	25.21
10	Lincoln	25.59
11	Norwich	26.06
12	Bath & North East Somerset	26.53
13	Bangor	26.53
14	York	27.13
15	Chelmsford	28.95
16	Dumfries	29.12
17	Isle of Wight	29.75
18	Perth	29.87
19	Newbury	30.53
20	Edinburgh	30.83
21	Canterbury	31.34
22	Wrexham	32.35
23	Warrington	32.57
24	Exeter	33.29
25	Swansea	34.33
26	Oxford	35.62
27	Aberdeen	36.66
28	Cheltenham	38.09
29	Cambridge	38.54
30	Brighton	38.86
31	Ipswich	39.11
32	Newcastle-upon-Tyne	39.24
33	Cardiff	39.73
34	Plymouth	40.65
35	Bury	41.39
36	Bridgend	41.42
37	Crewe	41.76
38	Scarborough	41.91
39	Poole	42.76
40	Sunderland	42.92
41	Bristol	42.97
42	Sheffield	43.14
43	Derby	43.43
44	Aylesbury Vale	43.56
45	Newport	43.66
46	Dudley	44.56
47	Reading	44.69
48	Lancaster	44.8
49	Portsmouth	44.95
50	Basingstoke	45.08
51	Rotherham	45.1
52	Leeds	45.15
53	Glasgow	45.78
54	Bournemouth	46.08
55	Colchester	46.33
56	Leicester	46.35
57	Wakefield	47.24
58	Dundee	47.87
59	Belfast	47.96
60	Stoke-on-Trent	47.98
61	Gloucester	48.18
62	Stockport	48.3
63	Liverpool	49.05
64	Falkirk	49.13
65	St Helens	49.13
66	Blackpool	49.28
67	High Wycombe	49.54
68	Barnsley	50.05
69	Warwick	50.15
70	Middlesbrough	50.22
71	Maidstone	50.67
72	Solihull	51.12
73	Peterborough	52.04
74	Nottingham	52.41
75	Southampton	53.29
76	Northampton	54.56
77	Milton Keynes	54.65
78	Bedford	54.96
79	East Ayrshire	55.49
80	London	55.56
81	Walsall	55.6
82	Manchester	55.88
83	Kingston-upon-Hull	56.23
84	Stafford	56.25
85	Luton	56.93
86	Norfolk	57.84
87	Wigan	58.87
88	Blackburn	58.89
89	Salford	60.58
90	Southend-on-Sea	62.29
91	Nuneaton	62.45
92	Doncaster	63.11
93	Coventry	63.13
94	Wolverhampton	63.42
95	Bolton	63.61
96	Bradford	63.74
97	Slough	64.52
98	Birmingham	64.68
99	Basildon	65.11
100	Stockton-on-Tees	65.49
101	Ayr	65.57
102	Oldham	67.1
103	Dover	68.63
104	Preston	68.7
105	Rochdale	71.45

Where are the least safe areas to buy a home in the UK?

Down at the bottom of the table are those towns and cities that have the highest crime index rates, thus the least safe. There doesn’t appear to be any sort of pattern or commonalities between these towns and cities, which are dispersed across the UK.

It’s quite interesting however to see how close they are to some of the safest areas. For example, Dover comes in as the 3rd least safe place in the UK for homebuyers, yet Sevenoaks, also in Kent, is among the most safe.

Oldham, Preston and Rochdale also make appearances at the bottom of the table, which are all closely populated in the North West, with Rochdale being the least safe city in the UK. Meanwhile Ayr, in Scotland comes in 4th.

That just shows how important it is for homeowners to look into local statistics to truly understand what areas to purchase a property in.

Here’s the list of the 5 least safe places to buy a home:

Rochdale
Preston
Dover
Oldham
Ayr

Buying a home or property is a really big decision where local area safety is just one of many other considerations you need to make. Other things about the surrounding city (or town) include amenities, schools, transport links and so on.

You should also take into account the property itself. That’s where a home survey or building survey can be useful.

If you’re looking for a detailed breakdown of RICS Home Surveys, check out this Complete Guide.

FAQs on the Safest Cities to Live in the UK

According to CJ Bloor’s latest analysis, some of the safest UK cities to live in include Harrogate, Wokingham, Chester, Sevenoaks, and Horsham. These locations show consistently low crime rates and strong community well-being indicators, making them ideal for homeowners and families.

CJ Bloor’s rankings are based on Numbeo data, which makes use of surveys akin to official government methodologies. The survey measures responses to perceptions of crime, perceived safety during daylight and nighttime hours, specific crime concerns, and both property and violent crime severity.

Each publication uses a slightly different methodology. Some rank based on overall crime, while others focus on violent or property crime specifically. Some include extra factors such as street lighting, police response times, or public perception surveys, leading to variations in results.

Typically, smaller towns and suburban areas record lower crime levels than major urban centres, but that doesn’t mean all large cities are unsafe. Many metropolitan areas have safer districts and well-policed neighbourhoods, so it’s always worth checking localised data before deciding.

You can view up-to-date crime figures using the official police data portal at police.uk. It provides detailed street-level statistics for every city and region across the UK, helping you compare areas before buying or renting.

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