Caravan Insurance

A new website has been launched to provide people moving house with easy access to information about local areas.

Users will be able to log on to UK Local Area and call up official national statistics on a range of issues, including employment, education, health statistics and crime rates.

Concerned homebuyers can also access local schools' results, nearest public transport information and road safety records - just by typing in the address's postcode.

The information will be particularly useful, as cheap home contents insurance is largely dependent on the perceived desirability of the location.

You are always likely to pay more in monthly premiums if you live in an area with a high crime rate or where vandalism is a regular feature.

If this is the case, you may want to make sure you invest heavily in security features such as alarms.

A recent survey found that "location" was increasingly being seen as a key consideration when moving house.

As well as crime rates, the biggest concerns included poor school results, potential for nuisance neighbours and the level of public transport.

Carried out by Unum, the survey also found 44 per cent of people said that moving house was the most stressful experience they had ever faced.