Bedford

9°COvercast

• Today: 12° / 6° · 26% rain
• Tomorrow: 12° / 8° · Patchy rain nearby

Source: WeatherAPI

Sunrise 06:59Sunset 16:31

9h 33m of daylight today

Next bank holiday: Christmas Day, Fri 25 Dec

Source: sunrise-sunset.org · gov.uk

30US AQI · Good

Main pollutant: fine particles (PM2.5)

Source: WAQI · Northampton Spring Park, United Kingdom

• 7.1 µg/m³ average fine-particle (PM2.5) concentration
• 5.3% of adult (30+) deaths estimated attributable to fine-particle pollution

Lower is better for both figures.

Source: OHID Fingertips · 2024

942 reported · August 2026▲ 33% YoY

• Violence & sexual offences265
• Shoplifting202
• Anti-social behaviour137
• Public order80

1 stop & searches · mostly offensive weapons

Neighbourhood team: Queens Park and Castle · Bedfordshire

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

293 reported road collisions (2025)

69 killed or seriously injured · 383 casualties · 15.8 collisions per 10,000 residents

Source: DfT reported road collisions (STATS19)

500+ food businesses within 2 miles

• 414 rated 4–5 ★ (333 top)
• 11 rated 0–2 (poor)

Source: Food Standards Agency · split of the nearest 500

• Nearest station: Bedford St Johns (0.6 km)
• 66 bus stops within ~½ mile

Source: OpenStreetMap, National Rail

£330,462 average▲ 1.1% YoY

Across Bedford · to 2026-08

Source: UK House Price Index (HM Land Registry)

£1,173 average monthly rent▲ 3% YoY

• 1 bed £800
• 2 bed £1,029
• 3 bed £1,260

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

9.1× house price to earnings

A typical home costs 9.1 times median annual pay (9.3× for cheaper homes vs lower pay).

Source: ONS house price to workplace earnings ratio · 2025

2,128 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

• Cheapest petrol: 168.9p · Asda (11.4 km)
• Cheapest diesel: 198.9p · Asda (11.4 km)

2 stations within ~8 miles

Source: CMA fuel price scheme

45 charging locations within ~8 km

• 14 with rapid charging (50 kW+)
• Fastest nearby: 300 kW
• Nearest: Duck Mill Lane Car Park (0.1 km)

Source: Open Charge Map

• Sports centres9
• Gyms4
• Sports pitches56
• Playgrounds31

Source: OpenStreetMap (within ~1 mile)

185,227 residents in Bedford · 389/km²

• Under 16: 20%
• 16–64: 63%
• 65+: 17%

Source: ONS Census 2021 (local authority)

• Moves in from elsewhere in the UK10,498
• Moves out to elsewhere in the UK10,187
• Net moves+311

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

Around the average in England

Ranked 141 of 296 English local authorities (1 = most deprived)

4% of neighbourhoods are in England’s most deprived 10%

Source: English Indices of Deprivation 2025

£2,472 a year · Band D, 2026-27

Most homes here are Band C (25% of 80,810)

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

84 schools · 35,150 pupils

53 primary · 12 secondary · 19 other

Ofsted: 35 of 38 graded schools rated Good or Outstanding (92%)

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

Source: DfE Get Information about Schools · Ofsted · Bedford

269 CQC-registered services

• Care homes73
• GP practices34
• Dentists50
• Homecare agencies81
• Hospitals & hospices8

CQC ratings: 82% of rated services Good or Outstanding · 7 Inadequate

Source: Care Quality Commission · Bedford

• In a conservation area (Bedford)
• Not in the Green Belt
• 118 listed buildings within ~1.5 km

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

321 applications decided

79.4% granted · 255 granted, 66 refused

Source: MHCLG planning statistics (PS2) · 2026 Q2

Mohammad Yasin

Labour

Bedford

Source: UK Parliament

Conservative majority · directly-elected mayor

• Lab 12
• Con 14
• LD 13
• Grn 4
• Oth 3

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

• Schools21
• GPs & clinics11
• Pharmacies10
• Supermarkets15
• Parks & greens14
• Restaurants & cafés206

Source: OpenStreetMap (within ~1 mile)

8,405 active business enterprises in the area

Source: ONS UK Business Counts (2026)

1,776 jobs advertised · £41,161 avg

e.g. 7.5t Delivery Driver, Senior Design Manager, Contract Fabricator

Source: Adzuna

£780 median full-time weekly pay

4.5% of residents aged 16–64 claim unemployment-related benefits

£24,626 disposable income per head (2024)

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

54% of homes rated EPC C or above

Most common band: C · 90,060 certificates

9.5% of households were in fuel poverty (2023)

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

80% low-carbon electricity

Wind 53% · Gas 19% · Nuclear 19% · Biomass 9%

85 gCO₂/kWh · low intensity

Latest estimate for East England · National Grid ESO

Life expectancy: 83.4 yrs women · 80.2 yrs men

Healthy life expectancy: 62.7 women · 62.5 men

73% of adults overweight or obese

Source: OHID Fingertips · 2025

• Life satisfaction7.5
• Feeling worthwhile7.7
• Happiness yesterday7.6
• Anxiety yesterday (lower is better)3.4

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

14 GP surgeries · 9 pharmacies in MK40

• Queens Park Health Centre
• The De Parys Group
• Goldington Avenue Surgery

Source: NHS Organisation Data Service

Open UK Parliament petitions most signed in Bedford:

• Hold a UK-wide briefing on climate and nature risks165 local signatures · 127,144 nationwide
• Protect legal right to support for children with SEND158 local signatures · 111,357 nationwide
• End the mandatory fortification of white flour with folic acid immediately136 local signatures · 76,640 nationwide
• Remove sentence reductions for guilty pleas in controlling and coercive cases119 local signatures · 105,832 nationwide
• Fund £20,000 a year (term time) wage for Teaching Assistants119 local signatures · 39,730 nationwide

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

• 
  Town Bridge, Bedford · 0.0 km

  The Town Bridge is located in Bedford, the county town of Bedfordshire in England. Spanning the River Great Ouse, it connects the town centre of Bedford with St Johns, historically a separate settlement but now a subu…

• 
  Shire Hall, Bedford · 0.1 km

  The Shire Hall is a municipal building in St Paul's Square, Bedford, Bedfordshire. The shire hall, which was the headquarters of Bedfordshire County Council from 1888 to 1969, is a Grade II* listed building.

• 
  Swan Hotel, Bedford · 0.1 km

  The Swan Hotel is a historic coaching inn in the town of Bedford, in the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire, England. The building is located next to the Town Bridge over the River Great Ouse. Historically known as the…

• 
  Statue of John Howard, Bedford · 0.1 km

  The statue of John Howard, in St Pauls's Square, Bedford, is a bronze of John Howard, erected in 1890, the centenary of Howard's death. The statue is "clothed ... in the travelling dress of the time to denote he was a…

• 
  Bedford Rowing Club · 0.1 km

  Bedford Rowing Club is an amateur rowing club in Bedford, England, founded on 15 March 1886.

• Bedford Abbey · 0.1 km

  Bedford Abbey was a short-lived Benedictine monastery, recorded in 10th-century England. Bedford Priory, perhaps representing the same institution two centuries later, was an Augustinian priory that within two decades…

Source: Wikipedia (text under CC BY-SA)