The Richmond Pulse
Is Richmond getting better? One number a month, built only from official open data — crime, property, new businesses and development — each measured against the same period a year earlier. 50 means steady; the methodology is below.
Home to around 43,000 people (Census 2021).
Data through May 2026 · 50 = steady vs a year earlier
since April 2025 · dashes mark steady
- Safetystreet crime -10.1% yr (3120 vs 3471 offences near the centre) · weight 25%▲ 65
- Propertycouncil-wide prices -2.5% yr (UK House Price Index) · weight 25%▼ 45
- High streetnew businesses +0.6% yr (542 vs 539 registrations) · weight 20%▬ 50
- Developmentplanning applications +11.8% yr (1168 vs 1045 validated) · weight 15%▲ 59
How it’s scored
Each pillar compares the trailing 12 months with the 12 before them (or uses the official year-on-year figure), so seasonal swings cancel out. The percentage change maps to a 0–100 score where 50 is “no change”, and the Pulse is the weighted average: safety 25%, property 25%, high street 20%, development 15%, air quality 15%. It measures direction of travel against Richmond’s own past — it is not a comparison with other areas, and it is not a judgement of Richmond itself.
- Safety — street-level recorded crime within a mile of the Richmond centre, from police.uk. Fewer offences score higher. Police recording practices change over time; the radius also reaches into neighbouring areas — consistently, so the trend holds.
- Property — the official UK House Price Index annual change for the borough’s local authority (Barnes and Richmond share the Richmond upon Thames figure).
- High street — new company registrations in TW9/TW10 from Companies House. A registration is intent, not an opening — but the rate of them tracks local confidence.
- Development — planning applications validated in the same districts, from the GLA Planning London Datahub. More applications = more investment intent.
- Air quality — nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) at the nearest open London Air Quality Network monitor (Richmond town centre — this monitor opened in February 2025, so a year-on-year trend arrives as it matures). Lower is better.
Scores run about two months behind the calendar (that’s how quickly the sources publish), refresh monthly, and self-correct as late data arrives. Small areas mean small numbers — single months wobble, which is why everything is measured over twelve. When a source feed itself misbehaves — councils occasionally migrate systems and their data sync collapses overnight — that pillar is excluded for the month rather than blamed on the borough, and the remaining pillars are reweighted. All data © Crown copyright, Open Government Licence. Air quality data from the London Air Quality Network © Imperial College London and the funding local authorities; readings under 12 months old are provisional.