Ilford named as London’s most burgled postcode while Chelsea is the least at risk

East London's Ilford has been named as the most targeted area in the capital for burglaries, new figures show.

Analysis from over two and a half million insurance claims revealed the postcode areas in the UK and London most at risk of burglaries, as well as the safest.

Henley-in-Arden in Warwickshire, on the outskirts of Birmingham, was named as the UK's burglary hotspot with 50.46 claims per 1000 quotes, according to data from MoneySuperMarket.

The rate of theft in London was slightly higher than the national average at 16.69, compared with 15.57 for the country as a whole.

See full tables below

Clayhall, Ilford topped the London list as the most burgled area in the capital and ranked as the third highest countrywide.

Teddington, near Twickenham in south west London, and Buckhurst Hill in north east London came second and third in the capital and also made the national top 20 with a theft rate of 41.32 and 41.28 per 1000 quotes respectively.

Hampton, in Richmond upon Thames, and Woodford Green, next to Buckhurst Hill, made up the top five areas in London that are most at risk of theft.

The least burgled area in London, of postcodes with at least one burglary, was Chelsea, with the lowest rate of 1.48 claims per 1000 quotes.

City of London's Barbican came in as the second safest area in London at 3.17, while south west London's Belgravia and south east London's Kennington, in Lambeth, both had rates of 3.24.

Westminster propped up the top five safest places in the capital with 3.37 claims per 1000 quotes.

According to the research from MoneySuperMarket, as many as 62 per cent of Londoners have taken no precautions against content theft, such as installing window locks or burglar alarms, despite theft being up by 16 per cent across the country.

A data scientist from MoneySuperMarket, Emma Garland, said that burglars tend to target suburbs and urban areas and advocated greater use of security measures.

“It’s surprising to see that almost half of people haven’t put any additional protection in place for their home, despite one in five believing they live in a burglary hotspot,” she said.

“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.”

London's top five most burgled postcodes

London's top five least burgled postcodes

Highest districts in the country for contents claims on home insurance policies