My Area UK

Chicksands

Chicksands is a village in Bedfordshire, England, with a population of around 1,396. It has three bus stops and the nearest railway station is Arlesey, 6.6 km away. There was around one recorded street crime in June 2026, most commonly anti-social behaviour. This page gathers weather, crime, food hygiene, transport, flood risk, house prices, population, deprivation and your local MP for the Chicksands area — all from official UK open data.

On deprivation, the Central Bedfordshire area is among the least deprived areas in England (IoD2019). The wider council area has around 294,252 residents at roughly 411 people per km².

Council
Central Bedfordshire
County
Bedfordshire
Constituency
Mid Bedfordshire
Police force
Bedfordshire
60/ 100

My Area Score

Good

Ranked 76th of 294 English council areas — better than 74% of them.

Low crime88
Home affordability31
Affordable rents35
Good schools47
Life expectancy74
Low deprivation83
Employment68
Low council tax28

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°CSunny

  • Today: 25° / 16° · 39% rain
  • Tomorrow: 22° / 13° · Sunny

Source: WeatherAPI

Daylight

Sunrise 06:32Sunset 19:21

12h 48m of daylight today

Next bank holiday: Christmas Day, Fri 25 Dec

Source: sunrise-sunset.org · gov.uk

Air quality

22US AQI · Good

Main pollutant: fine particles (PM2.5)

Source: WAQI · Enfield - Bowes Primary School, United Kingdom

Crime

3 reported · July 2026 77% YoY

  • Violence & sexual offences2
  • Anti-social behaviour1

Neighbourhood team: Biggleswade, Sandy, Potton and Shefford · Bedfordshire

Local policing priorities

  • Community Priority for Area 5: VEHICLE NUISANCE/OFF ROAD BIKES is the new priority going forward for AREA 5. Nuisance bikes have been cau…
  • Community Priority for Area 3: ASB in BIGGLESWADE town centre has been identified as the community priority for this quarter, this has be…

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

Road safety

510 reported road collisions (2024)

125 killed or seriously injured · 738 casualties · 17.3 collisions per 10,000 residents

Source: DfT reported road collisions (STATS19)

Food hygiene

41 food businesses within 2 miles

  • 33 rated 4–5 ★ (26 top)
  • 1 rated 0–2 (poor)

Source: Food Standards Agency

Flood risk

No active flood warnings nearby.

Buses & trains

  • Nearest station: Arlesey (7.0 km)
  • 2 bus stops within ~½ mile

Live trains from Arlesey (7.0 km):

Loading live departures…

Source: OpenStreetMap, National Rail

House prices

£356,453 average 2.9% YoY

Across Central Bedfordshire · to 2026-06

Detached£609,871
Semi-detached£377,764
Terraced£298,788
Flat£173,703

Source: UK House Price Index (HM Land Registry)

Private rents

£1,249 average monthly rent 3.6% YoY

  • 1 bed £864
  • 2 bed £1,097
  • 3 bed £1,374

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

Affordability

9.7× house price to earnings

A typical home costs 9.7 times median annual pay (10.7× for cheaper homes vs lower pay).

Source: ONS house price to workplace earnings ratio · 2025

Fuel prices

  • Cheapest petrol: 167.9p · Morrisons (11.5 km)
  • Cheapest diesel: 189.9p · Asda (11.9 km)

7 stations within ~8 miles

Source: CMA fuel price scheme

EV charging

11 charging locations within ~8 km

  • Fastest nearby: 11 kW
  • Nearest: Priory House (1.2 km)

Source: Open Charge Map

Sport & leisure

  • Gyms1
  • Swimming pools2
  • Sports pitches10
  • Golf courses1
  • Playgrounds2

Source: OpenStreetMap (within ~1 mile)

Local news

Population

294,252 residents in Central Bedfordshire · 411/km²

  • Under 16: 20%
  • 16–64: 62%
  • 65+: 18%

Source: ONS Census 2021 (local authority)

Deprivation

Among the least deprived areas in England

Ranked 264 of 317 English local authorities (1 = most deprived)

Source: English Indices of Deprivation 2019

Council tax

£2,516 a year · Band D, 2026-27

Most homes here are Band C (27% of 134,350)

A £1,677
B £1,957
C £2,237
D £2,516
E £3,075
F £3,634
G £4,194
H £5,032

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

Schools

136 schools · 49,238 pupils

95 primary · 14 secondary · 27 other

Ofsted: 52 of 59 graded schools rated Good or Outstanding (88%)

129inspected under Ofsted’s 2024+ framework (graded by area, no single overall grade)

Secondary schools:

  • Cedars Upper SchoolGood
  • Harlington Upper SchoolGood
  • Manshead Church of England AcademyGood
  • Redborne Upper School and Community CollegeGood
  • Fulbrook SchoolRequires improvement
  • All Saints Academy Dunstable
  • Edward Peake CofE VC School
  • Henlow Church of England Academy
  • Houstone School
  • Queensbury Academy
  • Samuel Whitbread Academy
  • Sandy Secondary School
  • Stratton School
  • Vandyke Upper School

Source: DfE Get Information about Schools · Ofsted · Central Bedfordshire

Care & health services

221 CQC-registered services

  • Care homes64
  • GP practices27
  • Dentists56
  • Homecare agencies56
  • Hospitals & hospices3

CQC ratings: 85% of rated services Good or Outstanding · 2 Inadequate

Source: Care Quality Commission · Central Bedfordshire

Heritage & planning

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

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

Planning decisions

359 applications decided

83.8% granted · 301 granted, 58 refused

Source: MHCLG planning statistics (PS2) · 2026 Q1

Council control

Independent (minority)

  • Lab 4
  • Con 20
  • LD 8
  • Grn 1
  • Ref 2
  • Oth 28

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

Amenities nearby

  • Parks & greens1

Source: OpenStreetMap (within ~1 mile)

Local businesses

13,830 active business enterprises in the area

Source: ONS UK Business Counts (2025)

Jobs

23 jobs advertised · £31,715 avg

e.g. Online German Tutoring Job in Chicksands – Flexible Schedule, Become a Maths Tutor in Chicksands – Flexible & Remote, Car Delivery Driver

Source: Adzuna

Local economy

£869 median full-time weekly pay

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

£26,560 disposable income per head (2024)

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

Energy efficiency

54% of homes rated EPC C or above

Most common band: C · 138,501 certificates

8.3% of households were in fuel poverty (2023)

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

Health

Life expectancy: 84.4 yrs women · 82 yrs men

Healthy life expectancy: 60.9 women · 61.5 men

65% of adults overweight or obese

Source: OHID Fingertips · 2025

Wellbeing

  • Life satisfaction7.3
  • Feeling worthwhile7.8
  • Happiness yesterday7.3
  • Anxiety yesterday (lower is better)3.2

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

Local petitions

Open UK Parliament petitions most signed in Hitchin:

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

Notable places nearby

  • MOD Chicksands · 0.4 km

    Ministry of Defence Chicksands, or more simply MOD Chicksands, is a tri-service British Armed Forces facility in Bedfordshire, approximately 35 miles (56 km) north of London. It is named after Chicksands Priory, a 12t…

  • HMS Ferret (1982 shore establishment) · 0.6 km

    HMS Ferret is a training unit of the Royal Naval Reserve based at MOD Chicksands in Bedfordshire.

  • Chicksands · 1.0 km

    Chicksands is a village in the civil parish of Campton and Chicksands in the Central Bedfordshire district of Bedfordshire, England. It gives its name to MOD Chicksands, a military base which was developed from the 19…

  • River Flit · 1.4 km

    The River Flit is a short river in Bedfordshire, England. Its name is not ancient, but rather a back formation from Flitton which originally meant that the river was spelt as Flitt rather than Flit.

  • Ireland, Bedfordshire · 1.9 km

    Ireland is a hamlet in the civil parish of Southill, in the Central Bedfordshire district, in the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire, England.

  • Campton, Bedfordshire · 1.9 km

    Campton is a village in the civil parish of Campton and Chicksands, in the Central Bedfordshire district of Bedfordshire, England. It is about 9 miles (14 km) south of Bedford, and is about 9 miles (14 km) north-west…

Source: Wikipedia (text under CC BY-SA)

Compare Central Bedfordshire with nearby areas

Frequently asked questions

Where is Chicksands?
Chicksands is a town in Bedfordshire, England, in the Central Bedfordshire local authority.
What is the population of Chicksands?
Chicksands has an approximate settlement population of 1,396.
How deprived is Chicksands?
The Central Bedfordshire local authority, which includes Chicksands, is among the least deprived areas in England on the IoD2019.