Stoke Newington tops list of burglary hotspots

Chloë Mayer, Senior Reporter Friday, February 3, 2012
4:12 PM

Stoke Newington is the nation’s number one burglary hotspot, if insurance claims are anything to go by.

According to research conducted by the comparison website moneysupermarket.com, 33.6 claims out of every 1,000 come from the posh Hackney neighbourhood.

The website unveiled its findings today (Friday) after analysing three million requests for home insurance quotes over the past year.

Areas in London, Bradford, and Leeds featured most heavily in the list of the top 20 postcodes most likely to have residents making claims for burglaries or thefts from their homes or gardens.

After Stoke Newington, Apperley Bridge in Bradford, and West Bromwich in the West Midlands, came joint second with 31.7 claims respectively.

Wood Green, in north London, came next with 30.3 claims per every 1,000.

Julie Fisher, head of home insurance at moneysupermarket.com, said: “Being in a higher risk area doesn’t necessarily mean where you live is bad or rife with crime – many thieves will target more affluent areas purely for the rewards on offer.”

She went to stress the importance of having adequate home insurance.

Det Chief Insp Glenn Butler, of Hackney Police, told the Gazette that the borough’s burglary rates are continuing to fall, and added: “Hackney has a dedicated team of detectives working specifically to investigate all allegations of burglary. We use a range of tactics, covert and overt, to target suspected burglars and to patrol identified burglary hotspot areas.”

Residents should take security precautions, he said, such as considering investing in an alarm, ensuring all windows and doors are latched with a good quality lock, and making sure valuables and keys are hidden from sight.