Reference materials

Links to allow you to build a profile

Compare another UK settlement area with any of the urban areas on this site.

For further reference materials for Newcastle, including links to maps and statistical information, please see this Newcastle sub page.

Postcodes

UK postcodes are a shorthand way of describing a bundle of addresses – which makes sorting out the mail easier for the postal service. Geographers can find them useful too because they precisely describe a small locale, particularly in urban areas. In towns and cities a postcode covers a much smaller area than a ward and data attached to a postcode can help to overcome some of the problems encountered using ward-based data. (For example the Byker wall estate and St Peter’s are both in the Byker ward, but are clearly very different parts of Newcastle upon Tyne.) At least one postcode has been given for each area.

Brief guide to UK postcodes provided by BPH data (a licenced Royal Mail data provider who provide enhanced UK postcode and address data sets to organisations). http://www.bph-postcodes.co.uk/guidetopc.cgi

Royal Mail postcode finder (quota of searches per day for personal use – currently 50) http://www.royalmail.com/postcode-finder

Statistics

Office of National Statistics http://www.ons.gov.uk/

Some official statistics are gathered and produced by the devolved administrations (the home nations) or for separate legal jurisdictions (the UK is divided into three distinct legal jurisdictions: England & Wales; Northern Ireland and Scotland). You should be careful with ONS data as some of it is for England only or England & Wales rather than the whole of the UK.

UK Official statistics Use the menu to filter what you would like listed – includes live tables on rents, house building and homelessness https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics

Census for England & Wales: https://www.ons.gov.uk/census and for 2021 results: https://census.gov.uk/
Census for Northern Ireland: https://www.nisra.gov.uk/statistics/census
Census for Scotland: https://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/search-the-census#/ The latest census in Scotland was conducted in 2022. Return rates were poorer than expected and the deadline for participation was extended: https://inews.co.uk/news/scotland/scottish-census-2022-deadline-pushed-back-four-weeks-cost-taxpayers-1601144

Disappointingly the Office of National Statistics closed the Neighbourhood Statistics (NeSS) service for small area data for England and Wales on 12th May 2017.

Nomis Provides the official Labour market profiles for England and Wales (hosted by Durham University): https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/default.asp A local area report is available by feeding a postcode and each table can be downloaded as a spreadsheet. https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/reports/localarea

2011 Census ward boundaries: https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/reports/lmp/ward2011/contents.aspx

Scottish Statistics http://statistics.gov.scot/ Using the Atlas feature, it is possible to get data for specific small areas. However, it can be easier to use the Census 2011 area search and download spreadsheets of data for your chosen output areas that way.

Northern Ireland – neighbourhood statistics (NINIS) Allows you to enter a postcode to get a profile for an area. Clear what the data source is and the year it is for. Gives access to Census data. http://www.ninis2.nisra.gov.uk/public/Home.aspx

StreetCheck Features easy to use postcode searching providing statistics for a neighbourhood. It presents government-sourced data as easy to read charts. StreetCheck uses a variety of official government databases including Census and Land Registry data (updated monthly). They filter this data and extract the key statistics to help people who are house-hunting. It isn’t always clear what source(s) have been used and from what date. https://www.streetcheck.co.uk/

Index of Multiple Deprivation (relative affluence)

All 32,844 small areas or neighbourhoods in England have been ranked on a range of topics, together with a ‘deprivation’ ranking (Lower-layer Super Output Areas or LSOAs). The most deprived neighbourhood in England has a rank of 1. The summary includes information on the components which made it up and the weighting each was given (e.g. income, health, education, employment, environment). For the latest available IMD calculations see: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/english-indices-of-deprivation

If deprivation was uniformly distributed across England, 10 per cent of local areas in each town or city would be in the 10 per cent most deprived areas in the country.

The English indices of deprivation 2019 (IoD2019) were published on 26 September 2019. They update the English indices of deprivation 2015. (The 2015 statistics for England updated those issued in 2010.)

England – deprivation index 2019: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/english-indices-of-deprivation-2019 You can download a summary pdf and an Excel spreadsheet summary of the LSOAs.
Index of Multiple Deprivation maps have been produced by the University of Sheffield: https://imd2019.group.shef.ac.uk/
England 2019 IMD map explorer (with 2015 and 2019 side by side): http://dclgapps.communities.gov.uk/imd/iod_index.html
Guardian article and 2010 map for comparison: http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2011/mar/29/indices-multiple-deprivation-poverty-england
Guardian 2019 article discussing the IMD and its limitations: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/sep/26/wealthy-incomers-changing-profile-of-londons-most-deprived-areas
Scotland Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/SIMD and https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-index-multiple-deprivation-2016/
Wales Index of Multiple Deprivation (WIMD) http://gov.wales/statistics-and-research/welsh-index-multiple-deprivation/?lang=en
Northern Ireland Multiple Deprivation Measure (NIMDM) http://www.nisra.gov.uk/deprivation/nimdm_2017.htm

Census data

Census 2011 England & Wales – statistics and reports http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/census/2011/index.html Data explorer map for England http://ukdataexplorer.com/census/

Census Scotland http://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/ Area data by postcode search http://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/ods-web/area.html Data explorer map http://ukdataexplorer.com/scotland-census-map/
Census Northern Ireland http://www.nisra.gov.uk/Census.html

Guardian datablog on the 2011 Census for England and Wales http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/datablog/2012/jul/16/2011-census-results-data

UK Local Area Easy to use and allows UK-wide searches by postcode, but is not as up-to-date as it could be. Data returns more complete for England. http://www.uklocalarea.com/index.php

Historical Census data from Vision of Britain – Example: Northumberland http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/place_page.jsp?p_id=17469 and http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10152872/census

House prices

ONS statistics and reports for housing are found under people, population and community: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/housing

ONS property affordability calculator

BBC: Where can I afford to rent or buy An affordability calculator using house price and rental data https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-23234033

Hometrack provide a UK price index for 20 cities including Newcastle. Interactive chart feature allows comparison of longer-term house price trends in chosen cities and regions. https://www.hometrack.com/uk/insight/uk-cities-house-price-index/

Zoopla Current house prices and rents searchable by postcodes. Intended for house hunters and gives information for free about properties for sale, area statistics and some information about neighbourhoods. http://www.zoopla.co.uk/

Our Property by Fubra. Search by postcode. Includes the latest sales from the Land Registry (England & Wales) and the Registers of Scotland, but only an average value given for free. http://www.ourproperty.co.uk/

Right Move Properties currently on the market. http://www.rightmove.co.uk/

Online maps and aerial images

Bing maps Can search by postcode as well as place. OS map option (not offered by Google). Aerial and streetside view which is good for seeing house types. http://www.bing.com/maps/

Geograph Photographs, information and maps for every OS grid square in the UK (and Ireland). Can search by postcode. http://www.geograph.org.uk/

Google maps Again can search by postcode as well as place. Useful satellite images. Street view feature allows you to virtually walk around an area. https://maps.google.co.uk/ Residential areas locations http://goo.gl/maps/WK9Lm

Historic OS maps The National Library of Scotland are leaders in putting historic maps online for free. They have digitised the Ordnance Survey Six-inch England and Wales, 1842-1952 series of maps. You can search these using a list of counties or using a graphical map. http://maps.nls.uk/os/6inch-england-and-wales/index.html

Britain from Above Lottery-funded project featuring the Aerofilms collection of aerial photographs from 1919-1953. http://www.britainfromabove.org.uk/