Is SO41 a safe place to live?

SO41 scores 7 out of 10 for safety (low crime), compared with every postcode district in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Crime severity is 0.8 times the New Forest average.

Is crime going up or down in SO41?

Down 33% over 5 years, from 1,811 recorded crimes a year to 1,216.

How does crime in SO41 compare with New Forest?

Crime severity in SO41 is 0.8 times the New Forest average.

How many burglaries are solved in SO41?

Of 108 burglaries reported in SO41 between September 2024 and August 2025, 6% led to someone being charged or summonsed and 78% were closed with no suspect identified.

SO41Postcode district

SO41 crime rate and crime map

Recorded crime in SO41 is 0.8 times the New Forest average and 0.6 times the England and Wales average. Over 5 years it has fallen 33%. Most of the harm comes from violence and sexual offences (assaults, harassment, sexual offences). Police data to August 2026.

Lymington, New Forest. 31,775 residents in 19 neighbourhoods.

Safety in the UK: 7/10Low crime
Safety in the world: 8/10Low crime
Living: 5.8/10Fair
5-year change: −33%fewer crimes
vs the council: 0.8×the New Forest average

Open on the map

Safety and Living

Safety

What it measures. How serious the crime recorded here is, not how much of it there is. Each recorded crime is weighted by the typical sentence for that kind of offence (the Office for National Statistics Crime Severity Score), so a robbery counts about 76 times a shoplifting offence. The total per resident is ranked against every neighbourhood. 10 means among the safest tenth.

Data. Street-level crime from data.police.uk, September 2016 to August 2026. Weights: ONS Crime Severity Score, year ending March 2025.

Anti-social behaviour is not a crime and has no weight, so it is left out of the score. It is shown on its own line.
The weights come from sentences in 2015-2019 and one weight covers a whole police.uk category: violence includes both minor assaults and rape, and the data does not say which. A town with more serious cases than the national mix is under-scored.
Some forces have missing months (Greater Manchester published nothing after June 2019). We use the months that exist and say so on the page.
A neighbourhood's score is blended with the neighbourhoods around it, because police.uk records each crime at an approximate location, often the middle of a street that sits on a boundary. Three quarters is its own rate, one quarter the average of the neighbourhoods it touches, weighted by residents. Crimes recorded on a map point within 30 m of a neighbourhood boundary are shared equally between the neighbourhoods on each side, because the point usually sits on the boundary road itself. Where the map shows a neighbourhood's score, its own score is shown as well when it differs.
Busy city and town centres are not scored: few people live there and many visit, so crime per resident would mislead.
It counts crimes that were reported and recorded, not every crime. In Scotland there is no Safety score yet; Living covers it.
On the map you can filter by crime type. The filter changes the crime figures, the Safety score and the map colours, and compares with the national figure for the same types.
Crime Rates Map is a guide, not advice. Visit the area before you decide.

Read the full method

Crime severity: 0.8× the New Forest average (0.6× the England and Wales average)

Crime only, by how serious it is. Compared with every postcode district. Higher is safer.

Living

Based on schools, transport, health, supermarkets, weighted by importance. Crime is not part of it. Higher is better.

Shops, transport, schools and health

Distances are straight-line, not walking routes. Scores use fixed distance bands, so they do not depend on other districts. Higher is better.

Supermarkets

Fair accessScore 6 out of 10

Typical distance to a large supermarket: 2.0 km.
Waitrose Lymington (Waitrose), 2.6 km from the district centre
Tesco New Milton Superstore (Tesco), 8.0 km from the district centre
Sainsburys Christchurch (Sainsburys), 18.8 km from the district centre

Transport

Fair accessScore 6 out of 10

Typical number of bus stops within 400 m: 5.
Nearest railway station: Lymington Town Rail Station, 4.1 km from the district centre
Nearest tram or metro stop: Wootton (Isle of Wight Steam Railway), 37.1 km from the district centre

Schools

Fair schools nearbyScore 6 out of 10

Primary schools within 2 km

Pennington Church of England Primary School: Good (graded inspection, 2024), 200 m away
Hordle CofE (VA) Primary School: Outstanding (ungraded inspection, 2022), 400 m away
Our Lady and St Joseph Catholic Primary School - the Learning Federation Partnership of Schools: Outstanding (graded inspection, 2022), 410 m away
St Luke's Church of England Primary School: Outstanding (graded inspection, 2023), 420 m away
Lymington Church of England Infant School: Outstanding (graded inspection, 2024), 500 m away

Secondary schools within 2 km

Priestlands School: Good (ungraded inspection, 2023), 560 m away

Health

Fair accessScore 5 out of 10

Nearest GP surgery: WISTARIA & MILFORD SURGERIES, 2.9 km from the district centre, CQC rating: Good, rated 2016
Nearest hospital with A&E: Hythe Hospital, 22.1 km from the district centre

Crime by type

Recorded crimes per 1,000 residents per year, most serious first, not counting anti-social behaviour.

Type	Per 1,000 a year
Robbery	0.2
Burglary	4.9
Violence and sexual offences (assaults, harassment, sexual offences)	18.7
Drugs	1.1
Possession of weapons (knives and other weapons)	0.5
Other crime	1.0
Other theft	4.4
Theft from the person (pickpocketing, bag snatching)	0.2
Vehicle crime (cars stolen and broken into)	2.8
Criminal damage and arson (vandalism)	5.8
Public order	5.3
Bicycle theft	1.1
Shoplifting	4.1

How often crimes lead to a charge

In SO41, 7% of crimes reported between September 2024 and August 2025 led to someone being charged or summonsed (England and Wales: 9%).

Charged or summonsed
Caution or other action
Suspect found, not prosecuted
No suspect identified
Still open

Show as a table

Type	Crimes	Charged or summonsed	Caution or other action	Suspect found, not prosecuted	No suspect identified	Still open
Violence and sexual offences (assaults, harassment, sexual offences)	552	5%	6%	64%	16%	8%
Criminal damage and arson (vandalism)	164	4%	7%	23%	63%	3%
Shoplifting	139	27%	7%	10%	55%	1%
Public order	134	1%	3%	42%	49%	5%
Other theft	116	2%	3%	16%	71%	9%
Burglary	108	6%	1%	13%	78%	3%
Vehicle crime (cars stolen and broken into)	75	3%	1%	7%	87%	3%

Uses the latest outcome police have recorded so far. 6% of these crimes are still open, so the final figures may be a little higher.

Trend over the years

Crime severity per resident (sentence-days of the crimes recorded each year). Hatched bars are years with fewer than twelve months of data for most residents.

Last 12 months: 7.4 against a 10-year average of 9.4, 21% lower.

Questions about crime in SO41

Is SO41 a safe place to live?: SO41 scores 7 out of 10 for safety (low crime), compared with every postcode district in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Crime severity is 0.8 times the New Forest average.
Is crime going up or down in SO41?: Down 33% over 5 years, from 1,811 recorded crimes a year to 1,216.
What is the most common crime in SO41?: The most common recorded crime is violence and sexual offences (assaults, harassment, sexual offences), about 19 per 1,000 residents a year.
How does crime in SO41 compare with New Forest?: Crime severity in SO41 is 0.8 times the New Forest average.
How often does crime lead to a charge in SO41?: In SO41, 7% of crimes reported between September 2024 and August 2025 led to someone being charged or summonsed (England and Wales: 9%). 44% were closed without a suspect being identified.
How many burglaries are solved in SO41?: Of 108 burglaries reported in SO41 between September 2024 and August 2025, 6% led to someone being charged or summonsed and 78% were closed with no suspect identified.

Towns

Lymington

Council: New Forest