My Area UK

West Berkshire

West Berkshire is a town or village in Berkshire, England. There are around 1 supermarkets and 1 restaurants & cafés, with the nearest railway station being Newbury Racecourse, 4.9 km away. There were around 6 recorded street crimes in June 2026, most commonly Criminal damage & arson. Covers 54 towns with local open-data for the whole authority.

On deprivation, West Berkshire is among the least deprived areas in England (IoD2019). It is home to around 161,448 residents at roughly 229 people per km².

65/ 100

My Area Score

Excellent

Ranked 41st of 294 English council areas — better than 86% of them.

Low crime81
Home affordability32
Affordable rents45
Good schools64
Life expectancy82
Low deprivation91
Employment78
Low council tax30

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

21°CCloudy

  • Today: 21° / 13° · 21% rain
  • Tomorrow: 23° / 12° · Overcast

Source: WeatherAPI

Daylight

Sunrise 06:32Sunset 19:31

12h 59m of daylight today

Next bank holiday: Christmas Day, Fri 25 Dec

Source: sunrise-sunset.org · gov.uk

Air quality

22US AQI · Good

Main pollutant: ozone

Source: WAQI · Oxford St Ebbes, United Kingdom

Crime

11 reported · July 2026 83% YoY

  • Violence & sexual offences5
  • Shoplifting2
  • Anti-social behaviour1
  • Burglary1

2 stop & searches · mostly stolen goods

Neighbourhood team: Bucklebury and Downlands · Thames Valley

Local policing priorities

  • Due to the season, there has been a noticeable increase in fish Poaching on the River Kennet, especially in Upper Eddington, Lower Denfor…
  • There have been ongoing reports of Buckleberry Common being a hotspot for Anti-Social Behaviour, Drug use (and potentially drug dealing)…

Source: data.police.uk (within ~1 mile)

Road safety

206 reported road collisions (2024)

44 killed or seriously injured · 269 casualties · 12.8 collisions per 10,000 residents

Source: DfT reported road collisions (STATS19)

Food hygiene

34 food businesses within 2 miles

  • 31 rated 4–5 ★ (27 top)
  • 0 rated 0–2 (poor)

Source: Food Standards Agency

Flood risk

No active flood warnings nearby.

Buses & trains

  • Nearest station: Newbury Racecourse (4.9 km)
  • 0 bus stops within ~½ mile

Live trains from Newbury Racecourse (4.9 km):

Loading live departures…

Source: OpenStreetMap, National Rail

House prices

£402,790 average 0.2% YoY

Across West Berkshire · to 2026-06

Detached£713,343
Semi-detached£416,558
Terraced£334,523
Flat£210,435

Source: UK House Price Index (HM Land Registry)

Private rents

£1,314 average monthly rent 3.2% YoY

  • 1 bed £919
  • 2 bed £1,194
  • 3 bed £1,483

Source: ONS Price Index of Private Rents · to 2026-07

Affordability

9.6× house price to earnings

A typical home costs 9.6 times median annual pay (9.9× for cheaper homes vs lower pay).

Source: ONS house price to workplace earnings ratio · 2025

Fuel prices

  • Cheapest petrol: 142.9p · Shell (11.9 km)
  • Cheapest diesel: 147.9p · Shell (11.9 km)

6 stations within ~8 miles

Source: CMA fuel price scheme

EV charging

49 charging locations within ~8 km

  • 10 with rapid charging (50 kW+)
  • Fastest nearby: 350 kW
  • Nearest: Thatcham Priors Court Road 001 (1.6 km)

Source: Open Charge Map

Sport & leisure

  • Swimming pools14
  • Sports pitches5
  • Playgrounds3

Source: OpenStreetMap (within ~1 mile)

Population

161,448 residents in West Berkshire · 229/km²

  • Under 16: 19%
  • 16–64: 61%
  • 65+: 20%

Source: ONS Census 2021 (local authority)

Deprivation

Among the least deprived areas in England

Ranked 289 of 317 English local authorities (1 = most deprived)

Source: English Indices of Deprivation 2019

Council tax

£2,505 a year · Band D, 2026-27

Most homes here are Band C (28% of 72,040)

A £1,670
B £1,949
C £2,227
D £2,505
E £3,062
F £3,619
G £4,176
H £5,011

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

Schools

99 schools · 27,859 pupils

67 primary · 10 secondary · 22 other

Ofsted: 21 of 23 graded schools rated Good or Outstanding (91%)

82inspected under Ofsted’s 2024+ framework (graded by area, no single overall grade)

Secondary schools:

  • St Bartholomew's SchoolOutstanding
  • Denefield SchoolGood
  • Kennet SchoolGood
  • Theale Green SchoolGood
  • John O'Gaunt School
  • Little Heath School
  • Park House School
  • The Downs School
  • The Willink School
  • Trinity School

Source: DfE Get Information about Schools · Ofsted · West Berkshire

Care & health services

150 CQC-registered services

  • Care homes46
  • GP practices17
  • Dentists34
  • Homecare agencies39
  • Hospitals & hospices4

CQC ratings: 95% of rated services Good or Outstanding

Source: Care Quality Commission · West Berkshire

Heritage & planning

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

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

Planning decisions

218 applications decided

86.7% granted · 189 granted, 29 refused

Source: MHCLG planning statistics (PS2) · 2026 Q1

Council control

Liberal Democrat majority

  • Lab 1
  • Con 11
  • LD 28
  • Grn 2
  • Oth 1

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

Amenities nearby

  • Schools3
  • Supermarkets2
  • Parks & greens3
  • Restaurants & cafés1

Source: OpenStreetMap (within ~1 mile)

Local businesses

9,340 active business enterprises in the area

Source: ONS UK Business Counts (2025)

Jobs

1,685 jobs advertised · £37,850 avg

e.g. Superflex Roadside Mechanic, Superflex Roadside Patrol, Roadside Vehicle Technician

Source: Adzuna

Local economy

£861 median full-time weekly pay

2.4% of residents aged 16–64 claim unemployment-related benefits

£32,258 disposable income per head (2024)

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

Energy efficiency

44% of homes rated EPC C or above

Most common band: D · 75,598 certificates

8.5% of households were in fuel poverty (2023)

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

Health

Life expectancy: 84.9 yrs women · 82 yrs men

Healthy life expectancy: 66.5 women · 65.5 men

59% of adults overweight or obese

Source: OHID Fingertips · 2025

Wellbeing

  • Life satisfaction7.5
  • Feeling worthwhile7.7
  • Happiness yesterday7.4
  • Anxiety yesterday (lower is better)3.1

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

Local petitions

Open UK Parliament petitions most signed in Newbury:

Source: petition.parliament.uk · as of 2026-08-06

Notable places nearby

  • Cold Ash Quarry · 0.2 km

    Cold Ash Quarry is a 0.4-hectare (0.99-acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest north of Newbury in Berkshire. It is a Geological Conservation Review site.

  • Downe House School · 0.4 km

    Downe House School is a private girls' boarding and day school in Cold Ash near Newbury, Berkshire, for girls aged 11–18. Entrance is selective, and the school has an enrollment of 559.

  • Order of Silence · 0.4 km

    The Order of Silence was a small Christian community based in Cold Ash, Berkshire between 1912 and 1921.

  • Curridge · 1.1 km

    Curridge is a village in the civil parish of Chieveley in the English county of Berkshire.

  • Hermitage railway station · 1.3 km

    Hermitage railway station was a railway station on the Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway which served the villages of Hermitage and Oare in Berkshire. The station closed in 1962. The station house remains and is…

  • Grimsbury Castle · 1.3 km

    Grimsbury Castle is an Iron Age "multiple enclosure" Hill Fort comprising a large circular encampment on a high hill. It is within Grimsbury Wood, between Cold Ash and Hermitage, in the county of Berkshire.

Source: Wikipedia (text under CC BY-SA)