What a food hygiene rating actually means
A five is not "clean" and a three is not "dirty". What the inspector is actually scoring, why the date matters more than the number, and how Scotland differs.
Know before you move — schools, safety, prices, transport and more, from official UK data.
Our area insights writing, covering everyday life, connectivity, safety, schools — all of it built from official UK data.
Showing 15 posts in Area insights. Show everything
A five is not "clean" and a three is not "dirty". What the inspector is actually scoring, why the date matters more than the number, and how Scotland differs.
One phone call before you commit to an area tells you more than any rating. Here is what to ask, and why the nearest surgery is often not the one you can join.
The advertised speed in your area and the speed you will actually get can be different things entirely. What the coverage figures mean, and the checks to do before you commit.
Crime maps are the most misread dataset in house hunting. What the pins actually mean, why busy places always look worse, and how to compare two areas fairly.
Distance to a school is easy to measure and tells you almost nothing. Here is what to check instead, and the one question that settles more than any rating.
Reviews are the weakest check available and the one everybody uses. The registers that actually verify something are free, public, and take about four minutes between them.
Everyone checks broadband. Almost nobody checks whether their phone works indoors — and it is the one you notice on day one. Here is how to check properly, and why a council-level figure is not the whole answer.
A bus stop four streets away is a transport link. So is a station running one train an hour. Here is how to check which services actually call near an address, and the three things nobody checks until after they have moved.
Outstanding, Good, Requires improvement — the four words every parent googles. Here is what they really measure, how old they might be, and the questions they cannot answer.
The NHS register tells you a surgery exists. It does not tell you whether they will take you. That gap is the whole problem with moving somewhere new and needing a doctor.
Crime maps are the most misread data on any property site. Four things to understand before you let one talk you out of a house.
Coverage figures describe what you could order, not what you would get. Here is the difference between availability, advertised speed and the speed that arrives at your desk.