Does anyone live very close to a prison or work in one?

[meltin]

A relative is house hunting and found one in budget that would give him far more space for his money than other options in the wider area, but is quite literally in the same street as the entrance to a prison ... a few doors away. It doesn't overlook the prison though, as its on the other side of the street. Its council tax band is also very low for its size, suggesting that the prison proximity is very much seen as lowering its value. So, my question is, what might be the negative impacts? Apart from the rarer risk of escapees, presumably its constant visitors and deliveries and maybe some noise. Has anyone experienced this or maybe worked in a prison so could give some insight?

The entrance will be like any other busy workplace with people arriving and leaving throughout the day. It will be every day as prisons are obviously 24 hours 7 days a week.

The actual prisoners shouldn't really be any issue as they are inside.

I'd suggest your relative visits the location at several different times to see what the traffic flow is like and how much that would impact on the property.

It's likely to be a perceived reduction in value, rather than anything objective. But if it's good value for the size and condition of the house, it could well be a good buy.

I wouldn't worry about the risk of escapes, they're incredibly rare and if someone did, they'd likely get far away from the prison as quickly as possible, rather than cause any bother to near neighbours.

I agree about visiting at different times of day. Parking might be an issue - prisons often don't have enough parking for staff and visitors so this might spill out onto the local streets, but if the house has a driveway, that shouldn't be a bother.

I recently found out an acquaintance has a young offenders prison at the back of his house, never had any issues with the inmates/noise etc

I’d guess this would be a very safe place to live! I’d buy it.

My colleague used to work in a prison & she said any escapes mostly take place when a prisoner is being transferred so usually outside of the prison environment. She said escapes from inside are quite rare.

My dad was a Prison Officer and we lived in Officer accommodation beside several prisons over the years. You could actually see Peterhead and Barlinnie (Scotland) prisons from the window!
There was never any bother. I was able to alert my dad to the start of a riot at Peterhead, when I saw smoke coming from the roof!

I'm not too keen something would put me on edge.
Constant noise of vans police ambulance visitors and staff and you might get able to hear shouting at night.
All things considered I would probably swerve it and choose somewhere smaller but in my budget elsewhere.
X

I agree with the close proximity would put me off, prisoners are released throughout the day so there may be lots of comings & goings, family hanging around, people waiting for visits to begin etc, risk of drones & noise from prisoners shouting to one another!

Wouldn't bother me at all.

I work in a prison and I think it would depend very much depend on which prison it was.

Staff comings and goings wouldn’t bother me. Shift patterns for the officers is different to the non operational staff so there wouldn’t be huge influxes at 9am for example. The prison I work in has a huge car park, so no concerns about parking but some prisons have no parking so I guess you could end up with staff or visitors parking outside the house.

Visits and deliveries are usually at fixed times, and would never be antisocial hours. It’s a real headache to open the prison at night. Most prisons are locked down overnight, so other than the very occasional visit from a governor there wouldn’t be any nocturnal activity.

I work in a Cat C, so at certain times of day, they can get a bit rowdy playing football or whatever and attempts are pretty rare.

The only other potential consideration would be drones. Lots of prisons have issues with drones dropping phones and drugs over the walls.

On balance, I think I’d rather live near a prison than a school or a rugby club!

It's not Edinburgh by any chance? If so the busy road causes more issues then the prison itself. I used to stay on that road.

I work in a prison. The only problem that I can think of is insurance…..we are located in a nice rural village - who constantly write letters to newspapers and MPs that house insurance crazy……because all assaults and incidents at the prison are logged with police and so it skewers the stats for the postcode.

Use to live opposite Kingston prison.

Not an issue.

Ironically it’s now an interesting apartment block!

Not a prison, but a house I was looking at recently was right next to a hostel for people out on probation.
Only found that out when we walked past in the evening to check noise levels and saw them all outside drinking and smoking weed.

I lived next to a huge prison for a year, in the evenings I could hear the inmates shouting to each other, from window to window, having conversations. I quite liked it at the time.

If you live near a prison you would not know. I once lived in the same street as a LIFERS prison and it's if no consequence. You don't see any prisoners, or hear them. They are banged up. They are transported by way of high security vans. It's all well organised. Even if one did escape they would not hang around for long would they. It does not affect the area at all.

The prisoners escaping is a very low risk.

Prisoners are released and then they are free to do whatever they like, so you have that concern.
I know some prisoners are released out the front gate with a tent and so there is a risk that they might hang around.

However, it is extremely unlikely that they would commit a crime the second the walk out of the door.

You will have a lot of prison visitors and staff which would may make parking an issue.

Some prisoners families can be a little different to what you’re used to but they’re typically no trouble.

You’re not going to want to work in the prison living that close as prisoners talk.

I would say you’re probably safer or just as safe near a prison than anywhere else.

It personally wouldn’t bother me.

Many prisons you absolutely would know.

The one opposite me had a 10m high wall with a cylinder sharped top and barbed wire on that!!!!

I know people who live near a v high security prison, no bother at all.

Husband worked in Wakefield prison for 10yrs until he left and started working in security. He worked in Doncaster and Lindholme for a short while too. Doncaster is near enough city center, Lindholme is in the middle of no where.

I used to live in the next street to a big Victorian prison. Walked past the front gates on my way to work every day and it never bothered me. Worst thing was on hot days when all the windows were open and you could hear inmates shouting. Best thing was going past at visiting time and seeing some of the girlfriends' outfits. Absolutely eye popping

Depends what catergory it is and what type if prisoner is being housed there. My friend has a Cat C prison near her they are always escaping that and they do a lot of ground work around the area hedge trimming etc. It bothers me as they are mainly sex offenders. Personally i wouldnt want to live there.

Not sure what prison you are referring to, but prisoners are not "always escaping" from Cat C. Absconds from Cat D are more frequent but I still wouldn't say "always."

I wonder if your friend lives near where I work? We are Cat C housing sex offenders.

I’ve never known any prisoner to escape. I promise it’s very rare. We do have a number of prisoners who work the perimeters of the grounds. They are vetted, usually coming up to their release day so are being slowly integrated back in to society and they are very closed monitored.

And at least you know who they are. You could be standing next to a sex offender or violent criminal in a pub and you’d never know.

I used to work close to a high security prison. Only issue was occasional alarms sounding which we could only hear on the nightshift - probably not loud enough to wake anyone up