ACORN classification of my new area

[annwfyn]

According to http://www.upmystreet.com, my new house (who's postcode is SE8 5DJ) is set in an area with the following ACORN profile.

Full neighbourhood profile in Southwark

Often, many of the people who live in this sort of postcode will be young, living in converted flats, in multi-ethnic areas. These are known as type 18 in the ACORN classification and 1.14% of the UK’s population live in this type.

Neighbourhoods fitting this profile are almost exclusively a London phenomenon, with high concentrations in most inner and outer London boroughs. Here is an overview of the likely preferences and features of your neighbourhood:

Family income High
Interest in current affairs Very high
Housing - with mortgage Low
Educated - to degree Very high
Couples with children Low
Have satellite TV Low

These young multi-ethnic communities are primarily found in London, with many living in houses which have been converted into flats.

Most people are in their twenties and thirties and there are only a few, very young children. The population is diverse. On the whole they are well qualified. Many are in professional and managerial jobs, with good incomes. Others have lower level qualifications and are likely to be office and clerical staff. There are also a significant number of students.

The majority of people are renting their homes privately. However, there is also a high proportion living in Housing Association property.

Public transport is by far the most popular method of travelling to work or study. Residents are also happy to walk, and only a minority see the need for a car. At this stage in their lives this type are not really thinking about investing their money. They will spend their spare money on travel, and will take long haul trips as well as European holidays.

They like exercise and sport, as well as more contemplative pursuits such as the theatre, the arts and self-improvement classes. They are also very interested in current affairs and read The Guardian and Independent as they commute to work.

It's quite interesting. I'm also mildly scared by how much information on people is apparently out there in order for a company to put together profiles with that level of detail for the WHOLE COUNTRY. Although, to be fair, I think they are dramatically better in urban areas - as far as I can tell Lambourn (the village I was raised in) had simply been lumped into a single 'west berkshire' profile, and it didn't seem terribly accurate to me.

So, where do you guys live? Tell me what ACORN says about your area?

Comments

[lanfykins.livejournal.com]

I'm in OX10 7PS. I'd tell you the profile, but my internet security software tells me I'm a bad, bad girl for trying to view such frivolous sites.

And I can't be arsed to change the settings.

Upmystreet, it tell me...

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

Full neighbourhood profile in South Oxfordshire

Often, many of the people who live in this sort of postcode will be young working families. These are known as type 40 in the ACORN classification and 1.94% of the UK’s population live in this type.

The highest concentration of young working families are found in places such as Telford, Stevenage, Harlow, Basingstoke, and Basildon. Here is an overview of the likely preferences and features of your neighbourhood:

Family income Low
Interest in current affairs Low
Housing - with mortgage High
Educated - to degree Very low
Couples with children High
Have satellite TV Medium

Young families living on estates in New Towns make up most of this type of postcode. Most families are two parents with school age children, but there are also significant numbers of single parents.

Few people have formal educational qualifications beyond a few GCSEs. Employment prospects tend to be in the manufacturing, construction and retail sectors. As a result, family incomes are lower than the national average. Unemployment and part-time working are above average.

Accommodation is mostly in three bedroom terraced houses, some rented from the council and housing associations, and slightly more privately owned. Where houses are owned they tend to be lower priced. Remortgaging levels are high.

People are careful with spending. Food might be bought at Asda, Kwik Save or the Co-op, and many other items are purchased through catalogues. Mother and daughter might shop for clothes at New Look.

Typically these families will only run a single car, probably bought second hand. However a motorbike or scooter might act as a second vehicle.

Horseracing, doing the football pools, angling and bingo are all popular as is watching cable and satellite TV.

Re: Upmystreet, it tell me...

[lanfykins.livejournal.com]

I really need to get out of here...

Sounds right, except the left out our local neighborhood skank

[vulgarcriminal.livejournal.com]

Often, many of the people who live in this sort of postcode will be low income, older people living in smaller semis. These are known as type 45 in the ACORN classification and 3.03% of the UK’s population live in this type.

Neighbourhoods fitting this profile can be found across the country but main concentrations are in the West Midlands and the North East in towns such as Wolverhampton, Walsall and Dudley, Durham, Newcastle upon Tyne and Sunderland. Here is an overview of the likely preferences and features of your neighbourhood:
Family income Low
Interest in current affairs Very low
Housing - with mortgage Low
Educated - to degree Very low
Couples with children Medium
Have satellite TV Medium

These typically council properties house an older population, many with significant health problems.

In these areas the retired are unlikely to have any pension provision beyond that provided by the state. Working people will be in routine jobs in shops, on the factory floor or in other manual occupations. This results in low incomes. Whether due to their age or previous work, a number of people suffer from long-term illness.

The housing is small, usually one or two bedrooms. It is generally rented from the council or housing association. Fewer than half of these households have a car of any sort.

With so little spare money, spending is limited to a funeral plan, playing bingo and the lottery, betting and going to the pub. These people are unlikely to be frequent high street shoppers, preferring to buy from catalogues by mail order. Leisure activities are similarly limited. Some may do a little gardening or go fishing.

Re: Sounds right, except the left out our local neighborhood skank

[vulgarcriminal.livejournal.com]

Holy shit!

We pay more in council tax than you do :(

Band Wigan Southwark
Band A £821.63 £755.17
Band B £958.57 £881.03
Band C £1,095.51 £1,006.89
Band D £1,232.45 £1,132.75
Band E £1,506.33 £1,384.47
Band F £1,780.21 £1,636.19
Band G £2,054.08 £1,887.92
Band H £2,464.90 £2,265.50

[twicedead.livejournal.com]

Full neighbourhood profile in Epsom and Ewell
Often, many of the people who live in this sort of postcode will be young couples living in flats and terraces. These are known as type 24 in the ACORN classification and 1.15% of the UK’s population live in this type.

Neighbourhoods fitting this profile are found in large numbers in Outer London (Hillingdon, Sutton) as well in towns like Milton Keynes, Basildon, Colchester, Watford and Falkirk. Here is an overview of the likely preferences and features of your neighbourhood:

Family income Medium
Interest in current affairs Low
Housing - with mortgage High
Educated - to degree Medium
Couples with children Low
Have satellite TV Medium

These individuals are mainly in their late 20s and early 30s. They are mostly singles and couples just starting out. Some of the couples have childen under five, but there are relatively few children of school age or older.

Property is mostly small terraced houses and purpose built flats, usually with one or two bedrooms. Some are privately rented but many are being bought on a first mortage. Levels of mortgage protection insurance are particularly high with this type.

There are higher than average levels of qualifications at GCSE and A-level, and degree qualifications are in line with the national average. Most women in this type work full time. Employment is predominantly in lower managerial and professional occupations, as well as in clerical, supervisory and some retail jobs. These tend to be one car households, often a company car in the £5,000 to £10,000 range.

Household income is likely to be in the £20,000 to £40,000 range and regular savings plans and ISAs are common. The Internet is used for buying insurance and other financial products, as well as shopping for books, CDs and clothes.

Leisure interests include the cinema, pubs, eating out as well as sports (football and golf) and exercise. High levels of ownership of DVD players and subscription to cable TV and cable telephony are also common.

Might I also mention...

[twicedead.livejournal.com]

... that Epsom and Ewell was named the best place to live in Britain, shortly after I announced I was moving there.

[lilitufire.livejournal.com]

*chuckles*

You do not want to know what the pocket handkerchief size piece of land next door is going for :)

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

I've been told that Tokyo is terrifyingly expensive at the best of times, so yes, I do rather dread to think!

[lilitufire.livejournal.com]

I might take a photo of said piece of land and take bets on my LJ at some point :)

[davywavy.livejournal.com]

If the people in that area are interested in current affairs, why on earth are they reading the Guardian?

[vulgarcriminal.livejournal.com]

Better than my neighbors who don't appear to read at all.

[davywavy.livejournal.com]

I disagree - it's better to read nothing than to read nothing but propaganda.

[vulgarcriminal.livejournal.com]

And yet they still vote Labour. Our MP is the 14th safest in the country. Even Salford Hazel isn't that safe.

[davywavy.livejournal.com]

Reading the Guardian does not = thinking. Indeed, often quite the opposite.

[vulgarcriminal.livejournal.com]

No, see, I was always under the impression that people voted Labour because the Guardian writers are a bunch of half wits who really believe this is the best of all possible worlds.

But my neighbors don't read!

I'm beginning to think it's a disease.

[davywavy.livejournal.com]

Guardian writers don't think this is the best of all possible worlds - they think you can create the best world by taking people's possessions off them through threat of violence - an opinion I happen to disagree with.

Monied professionals with no kids, apparently - fancy that!

[sea-of-flame.livejournal.com]

Often, many of the people who live in this sort of postcode will be affluent urban professionals living in flats. These are known as type 15 in the ACORN classification and 1.17% of the UK’s population live in this type.

Neighbourhoods fitting this profile are found primarily in London (Wandsworth, Hammersmith and Fulham, Merton, Kensington and Chelsea, Richmond-upon-Thames and Ealing) as well as in Oxford, Cambridge and Edinburgh. Here is an overview of the likely preferences and features of your neighbourhood:

Family income Very high
Interest in current affairs Very high
Housing - with mortgage Medium
Educated - to degree Very high
Couples with children Low
Have satellite TV Low

These people live in affluent urban areas, where large attractive houses have often been converted into flats. Whilst many do own their home, the proportion of rented accommodation is relatively high.

People in this type are very highly qualified; one in four have postgraduate and professional qualifications. They work in professional and senior managerial occupations, with many spending very long hours at work.

Most residents are either young singles or couples. There are very few children and those there are tend to be under five, which suggests that young families move on from these areas.

As one of the highest earning types, they have relatively high disposable incomes. They invest in a broad range of products including high interest accounts, ISAs, and stocks and shares. They are comfortable using the Internet to do their financial research.

In the winter, this type is the most likely to go skiing. They will then take at least one other holiday which is usually foreign and often far flung. When at home they take advantage of the range of theatre and arts available to them from living in the city. They also enjoy good food and wine, both at home and in restaurants.

They are interested in current affairs and are very likely to buy a daily paper, which they probably read as they commute to work. They usually choose from The Guardian, Independent, The Times and Financial Times. At the weekend they like The Sunday Times and Observer.

*

(I had to giggle at the "They are comfortable using the Internet to do their financial research." - that's a textbook cold-reading response...who's giong to be reading this report, and where are they reading it?)

Well, that's a pile of rubbish.

[madwitch.livejournal.com]

'Full neighbourhood profile in Wandsworth
Often, many of the people who live in this sort of postcode will live in multi-ethnic purpose built estates. These are known as type 55 in the ACORN classification and 1.1% of the UK’s population live in this type.

Neighbourhoods fitting this profile are mostly found in Inner London, in areas such as Southwark, Hackney, Lambeth and Tower Hamlets. There are also similar areas in central Glasgow. Here is an overview of the likely preferences and features of your neighbourhood:

Family income Low
Interest in current affairs Very high
Housing - with mortgage Very low
Educated - to degree High
Couples with children Low
Have satellite TV Low

These are some of the most densely populated urban areas in the country, and are characterised by a young, multi-ethnic population living in purpose built blocks of flats, some of which are high-rise. Over 20% of the population are Afro-Caribbean.

They rent their small, one and two bedroom flats from the council and housing associations, and there is a high degree of overcrowding. Almost 60% of households are single people, including some single pensioners. There are average levels of children, but more than half of them live in single parent households.

Unemployment levels are high and a significant proportion have been looking for work for some time. Employment tends to be in low skilled occupations and incomes are low. Students form 10% of the population in these areas. Like most young people they are interested in music, fashion and arts such as community theatre.

Like all urban types, newspapers are popular. Readership is diverse and includes the Daily Mirror, Daily Sport, The Guardian and Independent.'

Our particular estate has huge 3 bedroom flats and is half full of people who just don't want to pay Chelsea housing prices but work in reasonably high income professions. Most of the families with children appear to be two parent, the flats are privately rented or owned by the occupants. There appears to be little overcrowding, and everyone that can get it has satellite TV.

So while there may be loads of detailed info out there, much of it is really rather rubbish. And that description doesn't sound *that* much like Lower Road...:)

Re: Well, that's a pile of rubbish.

[satyrica.livejournal.com]

yeah, I got the same result, ACORN 55, although I think it probably suits us better than it did you . . .

[fire-sermon.livejournal.com]

I'd question the accuracy of their info...

Mine says that the people in my area live in tower blocks and have a low uptake of satellite tv.

There's nothing higher in the area than my flat really - is five floors (not tenement height of floors either) really a tower block? And the satellite dishes flourish like weeds...

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

It's very random. My Dad apparently lives in a low income area, mostly made up of retired people. He's got families all around him and we've lived in the same place since I was six. It makes little sense!

[red-phil.livejournal.com]

Often, many of the people who live in this sort of postcode will be young educated workers living in flats. These are known as type 17 in the ACORN classification and 0.76% of the UK’s population live in this type.

Neighbourhoods fitting this profile are found in Scottish cities such as Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Dundee, and in English towns such as Brighton, Cambridge, Bath and Southampton. Here is an overview of the likely preferences and features of your neighbourhood:

Family income Medium
Interest in current affairs High
Housing - with mortgage Low
Educated - to degree High
Couples with children Very low
Have satellite TV Very low

There are many young people in their twenties in these densely populated areas. Most are working, but there is also a significant number of students. The majority live on their own in small flats, which will be either purpose built or conversions. Given this type is often found in Scotland, tenements will also be common.

These young people are well qualified, with levels of NVQs, A-Levels and degrees well above average. They are early in their careers and have modest incomes, which should continue to rise. This does mean they are unlikely to have any financial investments.

Living close to the centre of activity, in terms of both their work and recreation, there is little need for access to a car. Public transport, cycling and walking are the main options for getting around.

Self-improvement and education are important to this group and they devote free time to both. They are busy people and enjoy socialising in bars, restaurants and coffee shops on a regular basis.

They do not buy many newspapers, but The Guardian and Independent are most popular.

[red-phil.livejournal.com]

well my street is tennaments and a few of the other thing are true.

What it misses is the bipolar nature of the street.
1/2 the flats are old folk who have lived here for years and own.
they tend not to drive.
The other 1/2 are young workers with no family's and they mainly rent.
They all have cars it seems.
no satellite TV. Everyone has cable.

No bars, or coffee shops nearby and restraunts are thin on the ground too.

ACORN

[leahdarbyshire.livejournal.com]

Hmmm, the ACORN classifications are cool to read. I remember studying the whole report when I was an itsy bitsy 22 year old graduate trainee in marketing, as part of a research project I was doing for my company's direct marketing department at the time.

I also remember feeling obliged to look up every single postcode I'd ever lived in and all those of people I knew. At the time I discovered I was living in a semi-gentrified area of East London. It was possibly the first time I ever heard the word 'gentrification', if I'm being honest!

I don't think ACORN offers a classification for our postcode out here in Singapore (!) but I can tell you that our London flat falls under the same classification as seaofflame's does, since it is located in London Boro' of Merton.

Lambourn is a fascinating demographic though Sally. I remember picking up on this during election campaigns in Newbury. It's definitely got a few anomalies stats wise.

Re: ACORN

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

Lambourn is a very odd place - very unlike every other village in the area - although I think that's beginning to change as it slowly gets turned more and more into another commuter village.

What did you find out stat-wise during the election campaign? Am very interested.

Re: ACORN

[leahdarbyshire.livejournal.com]

heya,
Well without giving too much away, it's just the fact you expect Lambourn to be staunchly Conservative in vote and yet it isn't. There's a harcore Labour vote there and it's not what I'd call the chattering classes. I only have this bit from anecdotal evidence and the opinions of Lib Dems who lived in the area but they reckoned that the hardcore Labour voters came from a tradition of Irish people living in the area and working in the horse racing industry, in the stables and on the stud farms etc.

As I think you said in a previous post, there are some pockets of rural deprivation and I got an understanding, whilst I was living in Newbury, that there had also been complaints about drug abuse in the village in recent years which weren't always there.

But that could just be a few troublemakers and I'm not surprised at all that it's turning into a commuter village given how lovely it is and its proximity to Hungerford and Swindon so think it is just pockets of poverty.

Re: ACORN

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

*grins*

You know, it's OK to be rude about Lambourn. Whilst I lived there for a long time I'm really aware that it's a scummy little village in places, and when I was younger it was much rougher.

I found out when I was about 12 that Lambourn Primary School, where I went, had the highest percentage of kids on free school meals in the country, and the highest percentage of children with learning difficulties in the country. I also remember the brawls in the village square, and the time the village video library got shut down after the police found out that it was being used as a base for large scale drugs dealing. It was a grotty place.

What I think has been changing lately has been the move of many of the racing stables to Upper Lambourn, and a lot of new development in terms of housing - lots of little new houses. Lambourn Primary School has apparently changed beyond all recognition. In some ways I think it's lovely that it is changing - house prices are going up, and I think crime is going down (tho I may be wrong about this - as your anecdotes suggest), but in some ways its quite sad that a lot of the families I knew whilst growing up are now being priced out of the area.

So...yeah...feel free to be harsh about Lambourn and say if it's got a rough reputation - it always was quite a mixed bag whilst I was growing up there.

Random Comment from a Marketeer...

[quisalan.livejournal.com]

I'm also mildly scared by how much information on people is apparently out there in order for a company to put together profiles with that level of detail for the WHOLE COUNTRY

This is a medium to low level about some of the basic research levels out there. I had it pointed out to me in the Research paper I did in marketing a couple of terms back. It's used to work out where to target campaigns, what sort of media to use (i.e. the comment on public transport means that advertising on tube/bus stops will reach a certain target audience), etc. For example, Bath is one of the best places to trial _anything_ because apparently the demographic make-up is a close in ratio to the entire country as damnit, so the idea is that if it works there, it'll work countrywide.

If you want to get worried, think about the fact Nectar cards for example have an accurate record of things like:
-Where you shop (they can be used in multiple stores)
-Whether you shop locally (your address was in the sign up)
-Your age/demographic (in the sign up)
-When you shop (after hours, during the day, one weekly shop, several smaller ones)
-Who you live with (shared nectar cards/comparison of the person who uses the card vs name on the payment card)
-If you have children
-The exact products you buy
-How much money you spend per week
-Your suceptability to advertising (they can monitor your purchases and link them into any marketing campaigns)
-How you react to physical layouts in stores (they pick a 'set' of things you always buy, move them around, see which brand you go for afterwards)
-Levels of brand loyalty
-Correlation of your age to the 'portfolio' of things you chose.
-Predictable buys in future releases (why people get vouchers through the post with nectar cards - they're matched).
- Levels of social behaviour (fluctuations in purchases, many things are noticably for multiple groups)
- Addictions (Cigarettes/alcohol), which can be linked to social behaviour and lifestyle patterns.
- When you go on holiday/leave the country (can be used to book holidays, also if the card is used regularly, breaks in that pattern).

etc. There's more than that too, but that's the basics. And that's without going into things like CCTV, electronic sensors in Mats that many shops have to monitor the number of people coming in and out, computer site trackers (especially with customised websites)...

You do have to accept that people are watching and tracking your (purchasing) behaviour and making assumptions about you based on wider information from that, and just not care. Otherwise you'd go mad.

Must admit, I don't have a nectar card though partly because all of this creeps me out slightly, even though I work in the industry.

Re: Random Comment from a Marketeer...

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

You're right - the store loyalty cards are mildly terrifying.

What I found slightly creepy about this survey was that it was including information such as likes and dislikes, which I presume was gained through surveys. How else does a company know that a large number of people in any given area like the theatre, or go on european holidays? Or is that info all out there as well?

I know very little about marketing, so I'm genuinely interested. It's just not something I'd really considered before.

Re: Random Comment from a Marketeer...

[quisalan.livejournal.com]

What I found slightly creepy about this survey was that it was including information such as likes and dislikes, which I presume was gained through surveys.

Not always. A lot of companies will 'sell' their data to market research companies. The Data Protection Act bans companies from selling data for sales reasons - but market research is OK if the data is anonymous. Hence a theatre may sell on their ticket sale records (which have addresses to send them to) with the names stripped out. Ditto website sales, travel agent sales... etc.

Similiarly, magazines will tell companies their circulation numbers and best sales areas to get advertising revenue: and it's easy to guess that it 90% of all copies of 'cat lovers weekly' go to Southwark, and 90% of whiskers cat food is sold onto shops there, that the people round there Really Like Cats.

Surveys are another way of getting some information, and a survey of 100 people can then be extended to an area if you believe your data is solid enough to transfer over (there's a whole world of subject chosing if you want to go into that and to make sure it can be used as a generalisation), so it doesn't have to be that everyone was surveyed.

As well as general surveys, there will be ones done specifically for companies to help with their sales: once used they will often be up for grabs at a later date. Piecemeal information can easily be put together.

Also, many people now actually are signed up to survey websites because you can get paid/receive vouchers to fill them out - it's a very easy way of getting to a certain demographic, and of course, teenagers will fill them in on behalf of a household. That's pretty straight up social behaviour.

One of the newer techniques is product placement in the home to see if it works: product advocates are given a new product to test, and they write down how and when they use it in their real life. Which is supposed to only relate to that product, but of course it will spill over. "I picked up the 2 kids from school at 3pm and used a new JiffyMop(TM) to clear up when Emma poured her milkshake over sarah after we stopped at MacDonalds" gives you a lot more than just the fact the product was used at 3pm. It gives times, approximate age of the children (under 11), purchasing behaviour, commuting behaviour, sex of the children, attitude to treats/disposable income...

Even things like LJ are useful. People are listed by geographic area and have their likes and dislikes listed as part of their bios. This may only give you a certain age / educational demographic, but it's there.

Most companies who make/sell products/services know the segmentation of people who buy their products. They can tell you approximately what they buy, what they like and why they buy their products. I can tell you that off the top of my head for the products I manage, and I'm not in a multi-national, multi-billion dollar company. This can be generalised over as well.

Plus, there's the standard ones that certain eductational levels/social groups are drawn to specific types of behaviour (backed up by research) that can be generalised. Work out what the area's inhabitants are mostly like, and there's a presupposed list of likes and dislikes.

There's probably a load more I've forgotten, but likes and dislikes are fairly comprehensive. The difficulty comes when people try and hide them -

I bet LRPing is a biatch to get decent reliable figures on because no-one generally admits in polite company, much less on written forms :).

Re: Random Comment from a Marketeer...

[quisalan.livejournal.com]

Or is that info all out there as well?

And in answer to your question, yes, all that information is out there and up for grabs.

There's just usually a commercial price on it.

[imagesandwords.livejournal.com]

/me smiles and ponders his next job (if the fuckers ever let me move) in population projections, extimates and similar stuff.

[lexx-uk.livejournal.com]

Fantasic I look forward to reciving your post with one number differant in our post coads!!!!!!

now I know where that house is.......

[omentide.livejournal.com]

We are type 56:

These urban areas contain large numbers of young, multi-ethnic families, many of whom are single parent families. This type has very high numbers of under fives. A quarter of the people in this type are Afro-Caribbean, and 10% are Bangladeshi. There is also a significant student population sharing flats.

70% of the housing is purpose built blocks of flats. The flats tend to have one or two bedrooms and are rented from the council or housing associations. The large numbers of children living in these small flats make these homes the most overcrowded in the UK.

Unemployment levels are high, although given the large numbers of lone parents with children under school age, a high proportion of people are not on the job market at all. The working population tends to be employed in retail jobs and basic occupations, where the skill levels required are relatively low.

With low incomes and living in the city, car ownership levels are low and people use public transport. Money is primarily spent on the children and there is little left for luxuries. Religion is an important part of the social life of some of the ethnic minority population.

They read newspapers and the Daily Mirror, The Guardian and Independent are popular. They may also have cable TV at home and other interests include buying clothes.


I don't think that's miles out, actually. Though I'm not sure where the Northolt Bangla Desh community hangs out. We chose to live here because we got a lot of space for our money.