Would you live very near a prison?

[Miltonglade]

Went to see a house in a lovely modern housing estate this morning. Great house for us near a bluebell wood - idyllic even - but with on flaw as far as I am concerned. Coming out of the estate across a dual carriageway is a prison with Category A male prisoners and also young offenders. We would be at the back of the estate so a few roads away but still this makes me a little uneasy what with a young family but my hubby loves the house and does not see an issue at all. AIBU?

I think "Service User" implies some level of choice in the matter.

We have a prison just outside our town centre opposite our council HQ and the beach. It's fascinating to walk pass but due to the area I wouldn't live there but not because of the prison.

We lived on a new build estate across from a YOI. Never any bother - it was the idiots turning up for the races that were the problem!

Just realised I live 4 miles from a Cat C prison, is this considered ‘close’ in general terms?

OP, no I wouldn’t buy there personally, sorry!

I've lived almost next door to an open prison and currently live a mile from a cat a prison for male sex offenders. Never been a problem except getting a train on a Saturday morning when the open prison inmates all went to London for the weekend so the train was packed.

@WheresMyMask

I've lived within walking distance of a prison for the last 10 years.

Having grown up down the road from Broadmoore, when someone escapes they tend not to hang around.

It doesn't even cross my mind that I live near a prison to be honest.

Broadmoor is a hospital, not a prison

A friend of a friend lives next to a prison - lovely house but there are drones, and stuff gets mis-thrown over the wall landing in her garden. She's had police and prison warders round several times.

Not an issue if you are a couple of streets away though. Any escapees would want to leg way as far as possible!

[quote SylvieSangFroid]@WheresMyMask jesus, walk home in twos??

Apparently, they've stopped the practice weekly sirens now. Friend has been there for a years now and never heard them![/quote]
There's only one of the thirteen sirens left now.

We live a few miles from an open prison and they do have absconders occasionally I don’t think I’d want to live across from that but a cat a one wouldn’t bother me

I'm not that far from Broadmoor (or HMP Send) - not exactly down the road, though.

My aunt used to live near Walton prison in Liverpool.

And my mum lives near Channings Wood in Devon.

I live within twenty minutes walk of two prisons. It doesn’t bother me at all.

I think that for me, it would not so much be the prisoners that I'd worry about, but their nearest and dearest, coming to visit them. Going by "the apple doesn't fall far from the tree" school of thought, I might be concerned that some family members of prisoners may also have criminal tendencies, and that they might, whilst visiting their prisoner, be more likely to notice that (for example) my car would be worth stealing etc, and come back later to take it. This wouldn't necessarily stop me from buying a house nearby (especially one several streets away and across a dual carriageway like yours) but I would probably be more security-conscious.

If any prisoners should escape they'll be getting as far away from the prison as possible, as quickly as possible, drawing as little attention to themselves as possible. They won't be hanging round near the prison attacking people.

Theres a prison in this town, never give it a second thought. However, I would draw the line at buying one of the " luxury apartments with extensive countryside views" which they've knocked up next door to it on the site of what once was our police station. Definitely not. Don't like the pschogeography.

There's a lovely village around here which has an open prison in it. It's still a very sought after village which attracts high house prices. My friend is a taxi driver and he often picks up prisoners on day release for a trip out into town. He says they're all really pleasant usually!

Nothing to worry about. The houses around Chelmsford Prison (for example) are all half a million pounds plus, and are quite lovely. Also, the primary school backing on to the prison is great.

If anything, even more secure, as there is a strong police presence around the place, but not in any way daunting.

A high security type with lots of cat A prisoners I wouldn't worry about. It might as will be a recycling plant or an Amazon warehouse for the amount of trouble you'd get from escapees! But a resettlement prison is different as a lot of prisoners will be on day release and end up living locally on release. I would be more worried about a resettlement type. However, I probably would live near a prison regardless. Better the Devil you know IMO. There are abusers and sex offenders everywhere, just most never make it into a prison or even a courtroom. It's the Jeffrey Epstein's of the world that scare much more than released prisoners

@theconstantinoplegardener

I think that for me, it would not so much be the prisoners that I'd worry about, but their nearest and dearest, coming to visit them. Going by "the apple doesn't fall far from the tree" school of thought, I might be concerned that some family members of prisoners may also have criminal tendencies, and that they might, whilst visiting their prisoner, be more likely to notice that (for example) my car would be worth stealing etc, and come back later to take it. This wouldn't necessarily stop me from buying a house nearby (especially one several streets away and across a dual carriageway like yours) but I would probably be more security-conscious.

If you knew how much hassle it is to visit someone and how much hanging around and waiting is involved in seeing someone just for an hour or so you'd worry a lot less. On leaving the visiting hall the first thing people want is the loo, the 2nd is a fag and then they just want to get home, nobody is going to be hanging around after visiting time staking out you bloody property 😁

No I definitely would not. I worked in a men's prison for many years as medical staff and there are not only loads of ex offenders in the area but also drug dealers and other sundry lowlife sending in stuff on drones all day long.

Only got to page 2 so apologies if this has been covered, but how long would you want to live there for? A new build will depreciate in value at first, then you may have trouble selling it if other people aee also reluctant to buy a house near a prison.

We've recently moved from a house that is fairly near a prison. It is a rural area and woods hid it completely from view. It's a top security prison and it never worried me at all.

I know someone who’s been done for throwing mobile phones over the prison walls. I don’t know what category prison is was though. I don’t think I’d like to live in an area where people come to do this as the people who do it are a bit shady. This one who got caught is a relative of mine, he’s not an especially bad person though and not scary. Hmm not sure. I’d certainly have doubts and I’m surprised at all the glib responses here saying oh no problem.

Depends on where you are in relation to it and the set up. If it’s like say belmarsh where it’s tucked away with a car park etc not so bad.

However yeah visitors aren’t always the people you want to bump into, things are chucked over walls etc.

Wandsworth prison is in close proximity to the “Toast rack” streets where prices average £3m. I’d happily live there.

I also live fairly near a Cat D open prison and they have had a few abscond in the past but I don't think I've ever really consciously thought about living near a prison. There's also a sex offenders ie. "vulnerable persons" prison nearby with a park opposite which I always thought was a weird decision!