London postcodes make top 20 in country's most burgled hotspots list

Two London postcodes are ranked in the top 20 of the country’s most burgled hotspots, according to research.

The worst postcode for burglary in the capital is said to be Clayhall, or the IG5 postcode, in Redbridge, east London.

The Ilford suburb is ranked third in the country for burglary hotspots, behind Ingatestone in Essex and Henley-in-Arden on the outskirts of Birmingham, which recorded the most burglary claims in the UK.

Also in the top 20 is ­Teddington, or TW11, which is ranked 19th, a fall from eighth in the previous year’s list.

Buckhurst Hill on the borders of Essex and London — one of the ­settings for reality television show The Only Way Is Essex — came 20th in the rankings.

The data, compiled by price ­comparison site MoneySuperMarket, analysed more than 2.5 million home ­insurance quotes from the last two years to identify burglary hotspots.

The top five burgled postcodes in London were Clayhall, which registered 47 claims per 1,000 quotes, followed by Teddington, Hampton (or TW12), Woodford Green (IG8) and the HA3 postcode in Harrow.

The five least-burgled postcodes in London also included some of the wealthiest, and the best policed. They were SW3 in Chelsea, the EC1Y postcode in Barbican, SW1X in Belgravia, SE11 in Kennington, and the Westminster SW1P postcode, which includes the Houses of Parliament.

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While only two London postcodes made the top 20 burglary hotspots, the website also released survey data showing that 28 per cent of Londoners believe their area is a burglary hotspot, while the UK average is 19 per cent.

The MoneySuperMarket data indicated the number of burglary claims to be rising at a rate of 16 per cent nationally, compared with Met police data showing break-ins in London rising at a rate of 11 per cent.

Emma ­Garland, data scientist at Money­SuperMarket, said burglars tended to target suburbs and urban areas, with small towns and villages the safest places to live.

She advocated more use of deterrents such as window locks and burglar alarms.

She said: “It’s surprising that almost half of people haven’t put any additional protection in place, despite one in five believing they live in a burglary hotspot. For thieves, it’s all about risk versus reward — if the reward looks likely to exceed the risk, they are going to target that home. Homeowners must do as much as possible to tip the balance in their favour and make things harder for burglars.”