GuideYour match

Your match

A score out of 100 for how well an area fits what you asked for. It is not a rating of the neighbourhood.

Use it

Each criterion gives a fit from 0 to 1; your importance dots combine them into one score. A fit of 0 puts the area out (grey).

Example

You ask for crime ≤ 25 per 1,000 (Must) and a price per m² ≤ £7k with a soft edge to £8k, both at importance 3. An area with crime 20 and £7.4k/m² fits crime fully (1) and price 0.6, 40% across the soft edge. √(1 × 0.6) = 77 out of 100. An area with crime 46 is out: grey on the map.

How we calculate it

Any layer on the map can be a range: inside it an area fits fully, across the soft edge the fit falls to 0, and beyond it the area is out. Must means no soft edge.
The score is the weighted geometric mean of the fits, with your importance dots (1–5) as the weights, so any criterion at 0 puts the area out.
Priorities from the questions, places and your own criteria count by their 0–100 fit (the area's place among London areas, in the direction you chose). Without Must a fit never falls below 5%; with Must its minimum is a hard limit.
Census layers and religion describe who lives in an area: they are never criteria.
The official deprivation index, household income and social renting can be criteria and have their own rankings. A range on them is your choice; we never call either end better.
A limit you relax lets its areas back in with a low fit, and you can restore it.
Rent comes from the ONS Price Index of Private Rents: the borough's average monthly rent for each bedroom count (new and existing tenancies), so it covers bigger areas than the map shapes.
Shops, parks and stops nearby are counts within a short walk, from OpenStreetMap.

The fine print

Each criterion gives a fit between 0 and 1 (a 0–100 utility u counts as 0.05 + 0.95 × u/100) and the score is 100 × Π fit^(weight ÷ total weight). Missing soft evidence is omitted and the remaining weights are renormalised; evidence completeness remains separate. Missing must-have evidence excludes an area. Coarse evidence keeps its true carrier label.

Affordability: Preserve the source carrier and disclose coarser evidence.
Present market level: Preserve the source carrier and disclose coarser evidence.
Growth outlook: Preserve the source carrier and disclose coarser evidence.
Recorded crime: Preserve the source carrier and disclose coarser evidence.
Deprivation decile: Preserve the source carrier and disclose coarser evidence.
Commute: Preserve the source carrier and disclose coarser evidence.
Schools: Preserve the source carrier and disclose coarser evidence.
Walk to a station: Preserve the source carrier and disclose coarser evidence.
Noise (road, rail): Preserve the source carrier and disclose coarser evidence.
Visible disorder (ASB, damage, public order): Preserve the source carrier and disclose coarser evidence.
Energy rating A–C: Preserve the source carrier and disclose coarser evidence.
Leasehold share of sales: Preserve the source carrier and disclose coarser evidence.

Forecasts describe area-level £/m² ranges, not individual homes. School admissions evidence is factual historical context, never a probability or guarantee. Crime locations retain the publisher's anonymisation warning.

The score changes with your priorities and evidence coverage.

Profiles stay in this browser and are sent transiently for scoring. Usage analytics are opt-in and contain only budget bands, weights, counts, modes, and school phases—never exact destinations or raw profiles.