UK Landlord Forum / Life

Did you guys know that post code buying is becoming a big hit in this country.  The only problem with this is that it will create many many slums as shown in the states.
What do people think of post code buying !!!



Badger

As in, just buy all the postcodes and dump them into a database?
I do that at work. They need updating every few months though. Big bucks in it!

Sorry lol.
As in databases being available for prospective buyers to see what kind of area they are buying into.
The amount of information that you can now obtain from a postcode is almost infringing on your human rights.
People are starting to buy these databases with the information relating to the code.  So if you live in an area that isn't to bad but needs a regen project etc then people wont buy into that area due to the info obtained.  Many see it as making elitist villages and slums.
Info on your postcode includes area prospect and debt, wage and average debt etc etc

Badger

That kind of data costs shit loads.
It's like 60k per year, or something crazy.

http://upyourstreet.co.uk/ buy a lot of postcode data!

That's already been around for a while, hasn't it? Isn't there an online thing called "upyourstreet.com" or something like that, where you can find out all the crime data?

Quote from: vwilson on September 12, 2007, 02:13:38 PM
That's already been around for a while, hasn't it? Isn't there an online thing called "upyourstreet.com" or something like that, where you can find out all the crime data?

BEAT YOU

There's an article on the main site listed with a few of those websites, that get useful info based on postcode.

Quote from: propertyfag on September 12, 2007, 02:14:10 PM

Quote from: vwilson on September 12, 2007, 02:13:38 PM
That's already been around for a while, hasn't it? Isn't there an online thing called "upyourstreet.com" or something like that, where you can find out all the crime data?

BEAT YOU

*sob*

The quantity of information available to businesses and governments about people from their home postcodes threatens to create class ghettos, a conference was told.

Postcode databanks contain so much personal detail, from spending power to health prospects, that they were described yesterday as "frighteningly accurate" at this year's British Association festival of science in York.

Research into social classifications of areas by postcode, each containing an average of 14 households, showed that there is little chance of escaping class stereotyping. Classification systems use the census, purchasing patterns and other techniques to provide detailed snapshots of people's lifestyles.

They are used as an aid to marketing, crime fighting and planning but are increasingly seen as a hidden infringement of privacy. In the United States websites have already sprung up that allow people to choose where they can live on the basis of the social class according to zip codes, the American equivalent of postcodes.

Such facilities lead to "ghettoisa-tion" by class and will increasingly be used in Britain over the next few years, according to Roger Burrows, of the University of York.

Residents are already being stereotyped by their neighbours' lifestyles because classification systems such as Mosaic and Acorn regard everyone living in one postcode as being the same. When a postcode is on the cusp of two classifications, merely the type of drink that is preferred by a neighbour can make the difference between which definition is used for the area.

The distinction can affect insurance premiums, healthcare provision, the type of shops that open near by and how quickly telephone calls are answered by call centres.

"The fact that your neighbour has a taste for a lager when you prefer fine wine could be the tipping point that pushes you from one classification to another," Professor Burrows said.

"There are always two or three people who don't match the dominant type. That's a problem for them. It means the actions of their neighbours impact on them."

Professor Burrows led research that assessed the classification systems' accuracy and concluded that they were pretty much spot on in their assessment of people's age, occupation, health, attitudes and even the number of children they had. His team looked at four streets that possessed at least two different classifications.

Two of the streets were in York, one of which was affluent and the other poor. The third street was in Howden, East Yorkshire, and represented an economically mixed area, and the fourth was in Hoxton, East London, which included poverty-ridden homes and wealthy households.

Professor Burrows said that the school results of children living in postcode classification areas closely matched the expectations based on class type, as did the health and even the tastes of the inhabitants.

Few of the residents spoken to by the research team had any idea that so much personal detail was held in databanks and most of them agreed that the information was correct. Information held by the Government and corporations is likely to become more extensive as radio frequency identification (RFID) tags become common.

They can already be used to enable others to pinpoint where a mobile telephone is located. Extending their use is likely to mean that people's route to work, or where they shop, can be used for product marketing.

Doesn't that choice of "wanting to live near the people who drink wine, not ale" already happen though, in lots of informal ways?

If I'm looking for somewhere to live I'll be interested to see if there's nice cars in the street, whether people are maintaining their houses (often a case of whether they can afford to), whether people I work with would live there or know the area.

Perhaps what we don't like is that having a database you can search makes it *obvious* that we're going through that process. We can't delude ourselves we made an aesthetic decision (completely aside from the bimas and mercs).

I agree.

I started stereotyping people by where they live way before looking at postcode data! God.

The fact that the data now contains personal info is a bit of a worry though dont you think
Yes you always do a drive by, * not the shooting kind * before you buy



Badger

You seem to be edgy about this whole postcode thing. Are you hiding something?

Speaking of invasion of privacy; apparently with the amount of data that some people are putting on facebook, it's become a useful place to gather enough data to be able to commit fraud.

Quote from: propertyfag on September 12, 2007, 03:18:16 PM
You seem to be edgy about this whole postcode thing. Are you hiding something?

Maybe he doesn't want us to know he drinks cheap beer. 

Quote from: propertyfag on September 12, 2007, 03:18:16 PM
Speaking of invasion of privacy; apparently with the amount of data that some people are putting on facebook, it's become a useful place to gather enough data to be able to commit fraud.

It amuses me that the media is pinning that problem on Facebook (beware that evil internet). If banks want to secure your money by asking you your date of birth and your mother's maiden surname, I'd say that's the root of your security problem.

Hey V
Only the finest penfolds red for me dear. 


badger

ps your site is looking good, well done x

Hehehe, cheers hon


V