Archive Website of the UK government

Finding information before you move

You can find out a lot about a new area to help you decide whether you want to move there. The following sources of information will help you.

Local council websites

The local council website will contain a lot of information about the area, including:

• future planning developments
  
• council tax bands and charges
• local jobs and careers information
  
• school admission information
  
• local parks and recreation areas
  
• sports facilities
  
• arts and leisure events and facilities
  
• facilities for young people
  

• Find your local council Opens new window

House prices

To get an idea of the average house prices in England and Wales, check the House Price Index on the Land Registry website. The index gives detailed house price information going back to January 1995. You can search by postcode, area of the country, or by council. The website also lets you look at house prices by type of property: maisonette or flat, terraced, semi-detached and detached.

For Scottish house prices, use the Registers of Scotland website.

• Find out the latest house prices - Land Registry Opens new window

• Scotland’s house prices: Registers of Scotland Opens new window

Job prospects

You can use the Jobcentre Plus job and skills search to look for a job, training, career information, voluntary work and childcare provision anywhere in the UK.

• Find a job now

• Find your local Jobcentre Plus office Opens new window

Schools and childcare information

If you have children, you can find out about primary and secondary schools, childcare, nurseries, Sure Start Children's Centres and out-of-school care in an area. You can also find a school’s contact details, performance results, and reports from the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted).

• Find schools and Sure Start Children's Centres

Statistics about your neighbourhood

Visit the Office for National Statistics website to look at statistics about the local area and maps on a wide range of subjects. The site also gives neighbourhood summaries. These compare figures for a specific area to figures for the local council and the rest of the country. Several subjects are covered including health, crime housing and the environment.

• Neighbourhood Statistics for England and Wales Opens new window

• Scottish Neighbourhood Statistics Opens new window

Road transport

If you want to find out about the main road network and future road developments, you’ll need to access the following websites:

• for England, visit the Highways Agency website
  
• for Wales, visit the Welsh Assembly website
  
• for Scotland, visit the Transport Scotland website

• Highways Agency Opens new window

• Transport Wales - road information Opens new window

• Transport Scotland - road information Opens new window

The environment and flooding

You can find out about the environment of an area in England and Wales from the Environment Agency. The website includes information on pollution levels and whether an area is at risk of flooding. The information is free.

You can also find out about the risk of flooding to an individual property in England and Wales using the Land Registry's Flood Risk Indicator. The service includes land and gardens and costs £6.50 (excluding VAT).

In Scotland, the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) provides flooding information and advice.

• Local environment information - Environment Agency website Opens new window

• Flood Risk Indicator tool - Land Registry website Opens new window

• Flooding information for Scotland - SEPA Opens new window

Moving abroad

If you are thinking about leaving the country, you can use Cross & Stitch's section on Britons living abroad to help you plan your move.

• Britons living abroad

Useful contacts

• Home and community contacts