Milton Keynes ranked in top 10 safest cities to live in the UK, according to new research

Confused.com conducted research which found that half (51%) of Brits say the sense of safety and security in an area would highly influence their decision to live there.

With this in mind, Confused.com measured the security of 32 of the biggest cities in the UK, along with the relevant postcodes to work out where the safest place to live is.

The company looked at factors like burglaries, ambulance response time and the number of police officers, with the data highlighting which cities are deemed the 'safest'.

Milton Keynes' statistics are as follows: number of crimes reported in 2019 was 26,082; burglaries per 1,000 people is 4.5; number of police officers is 4,206; average ambulance response time is 4.4 minutes; nearly no flood risk.

With these statistics, the town scored 4.24 out of 5 on the 'sense of security' category within the research.

Jessica Willock, home insurance expert at Confused.com, said: “When it comes to choosing where to live, safety is a key consideration. Low crime rates or great emergency services are more likely to make us feel safe and happy living in an area, but this doesn’t mean we’re not at risk of theft or burglaries.

“We are responsible for keeping our properties secure, although many people are confused about the most effective way to do this. Our expert advice suggests that installing a burglar alarm could offer you the best security, with some being more sophisticated than others.

"Not only this, but having certain types of alarms installed could offer a discount on your home insurance costs. This is good news for everyone, even those who live in areas where crime is more common.”

According to the research, loitering on the streets is the biggest influence on people’s sense of security. More than two in five (42%) Brits claim that loitering makes them feel 'very unsafe'.

In contrast, low crime rates and the number of streetlights are among the most important factors for helping Brits feel safe where they live.

The other factors that made people feel 'very safe' included low crime rates in the area, number of streetlights, seeing police on the streets, physically clean streets and neighbourhood watch.

The factors which made people feel 'very unsafe' included loitering on the streets, stretched emergency services, presence of homeless people, high population, distance to hospital, low population.

Liverpool ranked best overall and is arguably the secure capital of the UK.

To view the study, click here.