My Area UK

Forest of Dean

Forest of Dean is a town or village in Gloucestershire, England. It has around 17 restaurants and cafés, 1 pharmacy, 2 GP surgeries, 62 bus stops, and the nearest railway station is Parkend, 7.3 km away. Covers 46 towns with local open-data for the whole authority.

On deprivation, Forest of Dean is around the average in England (IoD2025). It is home to around 87,004 residents at roughly 165 people per km².

55/ 100

My Area Score

Good

Ranked 112th of 294 English council areas — better than 62% of them.

Low crime77
Home affordability50
Affordable rents74
Good schools25
Life expectancy55
Low deprivation41
Employment69
Low council tax49

A percentile blend of eight open measures (100 = best in England); bars show this area’s England-wide percentile on each. See the rankings · methodology

Weather

8°CPatchy rain nearby

  • Today: 9° / 7° · 36% rain
  • Tomorrow: 10° / 6° · Overcast

Source: WeatherAPI

Daylight

Sunrise 07:09Sunset 16:37

9h 27m of daylight today

Next bank holiday: Christmas Day, Fri 25 Dec

Source: sunrise-sunset.org · gov.uk

Air quality

25US AQI · Good

Main pollutant: fine particles (PM2.5)

Source: WAQI · Chepstow A48, United Kingdom

Air pollution (PM2.5)

  • 5.7 µg/m³ average fine-particle (PM2.5) concentration
  • 4.3% of adult (30+) deaths estimated attributable to fine-particle pollution

Lower is better for both figures.

Source: OHID Fingertips · 2024

Crime

No street-level crime recorded here.

Road safety

103 reported road collisions (2025)

33 killed or seriously injured · 149 casualties · 11.8 collisions per 10,000 residents

Source: DfT reported road collisions (STATS19)

Food hygiene

83 food businesses within 2 miles

  • 73 rated 4–5 ★ (68 top)
  • 1 rated 0–2 (poor)

Source: Food Standards Agency

Flood risk

No active flood warnings nearby.

Buses & trains

  • Nearest station: Parkend (7.3 km)
  • 62 bus stops within ~½ mile

Live trains from Lydney (12.5 km):

Loading live departures…

Source: OpenStreetMap, National Rail

House prices

£296,807 average▲ 1.1% YoY

Across Forest of Dean · to 2026-08

Detached£403,314
Semi-detached£263,558
Terraced£221,524
Flat£131,182

Source: UK House Price Index (HM Land Registry)

Private rents

£828 average monthly rent▼ 0.1% YoY

  • 1 bed £594
  • 2 bed £800
  • 3 bed £960

Source: ONS Price Index of Private Rents · to 2026-08

Affordability

8.2× house price to earnings

A typical home costs 8.2 times median annual pay (7.9× for cheaper homes vs lower pay).

Source: ONS house price to workplace earnings ratio · 2025

Property sales

1,055 property sales in the last 12 months

12 months to May 2026

A busier or quieter market is not by itself good or bad. Monthly counts are small and volatile, so only the annual total is shown.

Source: HM Land Registry UK HPI, 12 months to 2026-05

EV charging

5 charging locations within ~8 km

  • 2 with rapid charging (50 kW+)
  • Fastest nearby: 120 kW
  • Nearest: Tesco Superstore-Cinderford (0.7 km)

Source: Open Charge Map

Sport & leisure

  • Sports centres1
  • Gyms2
  • Swimming pools1
  • Sports pitches10
  • Playgrounds8

Source: OpenStreetMap (within ~1 mile)

Population

87,004 residents in Forest of Dean · 165/km²

  • Under 16: 16%
  • 16–64: 59%
  • 65+: 25%

Source: ONS Census 2021 (local authority)

Internal migration

  • Moves in from elsewhere in the UK5,395
  • Moves out to elsewhere in the UK5,084
  • Net moves+311

Residential moves between local authorities (counts of moves, not people) · ONS Internal migration, YE Jun 2025

Deprivation

Around the average in England

Ranked 121 of 296 English local authorities (1 = most deprived)

Source: English Indices of Deprivation 2025

Council tax

£2,443 a year · Band D, 2026-27

Most homes here are Band B (25% of 40,980)

A £1,629
B £1,900
C £2,172
D £2,443
E £2,986
F £3,529
G £4,072
H £4,887

Source: VOA council-tax stock · MHCLG band levels 2026-27

Schools

55 schools · 10,867 pupils

45 primary · 6 secondary · 4 other

Ofsted: 23 of 28 graded schools rated Good or Outstanding (82%)

52 inspected under Ofsted’s 2024+ framework (graded by area, no single overall grade)

Secondary schools:

  • Five Acres High SchoolGood
  • The Dean AcademyGood
  • SGS Forest High SchoolRequires improvement
  • Dene Magna and Sixth Form
  • Newent Community School and Sixth Form Centre
  • Wyedean School and Sixth Form Centre

Source: DfE Get Information about Schools · Ofsted · Forest of Dean

Care & health services

687 CQC-registered services

  • Care homes200
  • GP practices96
  • Dentists142
  • Homecare agencies182
  • Hospitals & hospices31

CQC ratings: 92% of rated services Good or Outstanding · 2 Inadequate

Source: Care Quality Commission · Gloucestershire

Heritage & planning

  • Not in the Green Belt
  • 11 listed buildings within ~1.5 km

Source: planning.data.gov.uk (England)

Planning decisions

118 applications decided

92.4% granted · 109 granted, 9 refused

Source: MHCLG planning statistics (PS2) · 2026 Q2

Your MP

Matt Bishop

Labour

Forest of Dean

Recent votes:

  • AyeBudget Resolution No. 86: High value council tax surcharge
  • AyeBudget Resolution No. 76: Rates of alcohol duty
  • AyeBudget Resolution No. 55: Value added tax (electric vehicle charging)
  • AyeBudget Resolution No. 15: Charges in connection with employment visas

Source: UK Parliament

Council control

Green (minority)

  • Lab 4
  • Con 6
  • LD 1
  • Grn 15
  • Ref 1
  • Oth 11

Source: Open Council Data UK (CC BY-SA)

Amenities nearby

  • Schools5
  • GPs & clinics3
  • Pharmacies1
  • Supermarkets2
  • Parks & greens72
  • Restaurants & cafés19

Source: OpenStreetMap (within ~1 mile)

Local businesses

4,195 active business enterprises in the area

Source: ONS UK Business Counts (2026)

Local economy

£833 median full-time weekly pay

2.6% of residents aged 16–64 claim unemployment-related benefits

£22,925 disposable income per head (2024)

Source: ONS / Nomis (claimant count · ASHE) · ONS regional GDHI

Energy efficiency

38% of homes rated EPC C or above

Most common band: D · 39,298 certificates

12.3% of households were in fuel poverty (2023)

Source: MHCLG EPC statistics · DESNZ sub-regional fuel poverty

Grid electricity

50% low-carbon electricity

Gas 46% · Wind 29% · Nuclear 18% · Imports 4%

186 gCO₂/kWh · high intensity

Latest estimate for West Midlands · National Grid ESO

Health

Life expectancy: 83.7 yrs women · 81 yrs men

Healthy life expectancy (Gloucestershire): 63.4 women · 63.4 men

72% of adults overweight or obese

Source: OHID Fingertips · 2025

Wellbeing

  • Life satisfaction7.2
  • Feeling worthwhile7.9
  • Happiness yesterday7.0
  • Anxiety yesterday (lower is better)4.1

Average rating out of 10 · ONS personal well-being 2022-23

Health services

6 GP surgeries · 3 pharmacies in GL14

  • Forest Health Care
  • Dockham Surgery
  • Working Age Adults - Colliers Court

Source: NHS Organisation Data Service

Local petitions

Open UK Parliament petitions most signed in Forest of Dean:

Source: petition.parliament.uk · as of 2026-10-05

Notable places nearby

  • Cinderford New railway station · 0.2 km

    Cinderford New railway station was a railway station that was opened by the former Severn and Wye Railway to serve the mining town of Cinderford.

  • Bilson Halt railway station · 0.6 km

    Bilson Halt railway station is a disused railway station opened on the former Bullo Pill Railway, later known as the Great Western Railway Forest of Dean Branch.

  • Cinderford Canal · 0.6 km

    The Cinderford Canal was a private canal, opened in about 1797, in Gloucestershire, England, which was used to provide coke and water to Cinderford Ironworks.

  • Cinderford · 0.7 km

    Cinderford is a town and civil parish on the eastern fringe of the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire, England. The population was 8,777 at the 2021 Census.

  • Laymoor Quag · 0.8 km

    Laymoor Quag is a 3.5-hectare (8.6-acre) nature reserve within the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire. The site is listed in the 'Forest of Dean Local Plan Review' as a Key Wildlife Site (KWS).

  • Cinderford Town A.F.C. · 0.9 km

    Cinderford Town Association Football Club is a football club based in Cinderford in Gloucestershire, England. Affiliated to the Gloucestershire County FA, they are currently members of the Hellenic League Premier Divi…

Source: Wikipedia (text under CC BY-SA)