The Best Places To Raise A Family

Welsh Postcodes Stand Out as Safest Areas to Raise a Family

A new Family Investments report suggests Wales has some of the safest areas to raise children

• Family Friendly Hotspots report finds Llwyngwril, St Marys, Abercych, Dyffryn Ardudwy and Seascale are the safest areas of England and Wales in which to raise a family in terms of crime
• 12 of the 20 safest postal districts in England and Wales are in Wales

Other facts:

• Brighton, Hove and Waltham Forest named as the best areas for childcare provision
• Wokingham, Broadstairs and Gateshead found to have the best local amenities

If you’re looking for a safe area in which to start a family then Wales may be the place for you, according to findings published in a new report from Family Investments.

The Family Friendly Hotspots Report has pulled data from across England and Wales to highlight the best places to live based on a number of factors: from property prices to the standard of local schooling and crime data. Using recent crime data from local police forces across England and Wales – which shows the frequency of a range of crimes per capita, including burglary, robbery and vehicle crimes, as well as anti-social behaviour and violent crime – the Family Friendly Hotspots Report has revealed that 12 of the top 20 and seven of the top ten safest areas in which to raise children are in Wales.

As part of the report, the Family Investments Hotspots survey saw people across England and Wales expressing their views on what factors were important when considering where to live – and 90 per cent of respondents said crime levels are a big consideration.

Llwyngwril in Gwynedd took the top spot of safest areas to raise a family in England and Wales, with Abercych in Pembrokeshire reaching third and Dyffryn Ardudwy in Gwynedd taking fourth. Llwyngwril is able to boast a crime-per-capita ratio of just 0.01, compared to the 0.18 average in England and Wales. Whitland, Penysarn, Garndolbenmaen and Llangammarch Wells also made the top ten for Wales, while England’s highest-ranked areas were St Mary’s – second overall on the list – and Seascale in fifth.

However, while many Welsh postcodes offer safe places to bring up a child, the rankings for childcare provision were dominated by English addresses. Brighton and Hove in particular ranks highly on both the cost and quality of childcare with the postcodes BN1, BN3 and BN2, taking first, second and eighth on the list respectively.  Forty-seven per cent of respondents to the Hotspots survey said childcare costs are important in relation to where they live.

Since keeping the kids active and entertained at weekends and during school holidays is also a priority for parents, the Family Friendly Hotspots Report also looked at the ‘most fun’ areas of England and Wales, taking into account amenities per square mile.

Here, Wokingham was the surprise at the top of the list, largely thanks to the 16 leisure centres it boasts in its vicinity. Broadstairs, Gateshead and Dorchester also scored highly.

Kate Moore, head of savings and investments at Family Investments, commented: “Our customers told us that the safety of an area is a major consideration when choosing a place to raise a family, and it’s interesting to see that Wales has so many spaces in the top 20 safest places to live.

“Of course, childcare provision and access to local amenities are also important to families, so we think our tool is a valuable resource for any parents looking for somewhere to base their family.”

The Family Friendly Hotspots Report provides a detailed breakdown of how individual postal districts score in area such as property prices, amenities, schooling and safety. To see how your postcode shapes up against the rest, use the handy interactive tool available here.

About Family Investments

• Family Investments is the trusted friend to families when they need specialist financial help.
• Family Investments currently looks after more than £4.5 billion of family money for more than 1.8 million people in the UK
• Family Investments is a mutual with over 35 years experience providing investments for families. They are owned by their customers which means that they are directly answerable to them
• Family Investments is the UK’s favourite Child Trust Fund provider with 1.3 million Child Trust Fund accounts
• Family Investments’ Child Trust Fund was voted best CTF provider at the 2010 and 2011 Moneyfacts awards
• Family Investments was the first provider to announce details of a Junior ISA and is market leader in the provision of equity based Junior ISAs
• Family Investments was voted best Junior ISA provider at 2012 Investment Life and Pensions Moneyfacts Awards and Highly Commended in the same category in 2013.
• Family Investments was awarded best Children’s Finance Product Provider at the Personal Finance Awards 2011/12
• Family Investments offers an Ethical CTF and Junior ISA which tracks performance of companies included in the FTSE4Good UK 50 Total Return Index
• The company’s expertise is widely trusted and recognised, which is why Family Investments has been chosen to provide the ISA product for the Post Office and Bounty
• Family Investments has also previously provided Child Trust Funds for the likes of Barclays Banks, Santander and the Post Office
• Family Investments is the trading name of Family Assurance Friendly Society and is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority
• Visit our website: www.family.co.uk

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