Heath and Reach

17°CLight rain shower

• Today: 21° / 17° · 81% rain
• Tomorrow: 25° / 16° · Mist

Source: WeatherAPI

Sunrise 06:32Sunset 19:24

12h 52m of daylight today

Next bank holiday: Christmas Day, Fri 25 Dec

Source: sunrise-sunset.org · gov.uk

17US AQI · Good

Main pollutant: fine particles (PM2.5)

Source: WAQI · Northampton Spring Park, United Kingdom

9 reported · July 2026

• Anti-social behaviour3
• Violence & sexual offences3
• Other theft2
• Public order1

Neighbourhood team: Leighton Buzzard and Rural · Bedfordshire

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

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)

111 food businesses within 2 miles

• 98 rated 4–5 ★ (79 top)
• 1 rated 0–2 (poor)

Source: Food Standards Agency

• Nearest station: Stonehenge Works (1.9 km)
• 6 bus stops within ~½ mile

Source: OpenStreetMap, National Rail

£356,453 average▲ 2.9% YoY

Across Central Bedfordshire · to 2026-06

Source: UK House Price Index (HM Land Registry)

£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

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

• Cheapest petrol: 161.7p · Morrisons (3.5 km)
• Cheapest diesel: 183.7p · Morrisons (3.5 km)

9 stations within ~8 miles

Source: CMA fuel price scheme

22 charging locations within ~8 km

• 6 with rapid charging (50 kW+)
• Fastest nearby: 180 kW
• Nearest: Leighton Buzzard (1.8 km)

Source: Open Charge Map

• Swimming pools1
• Sports pitches5
• Golf courses1
• Playgrounds2

Source: OpenStreetMap (within ~1 mile)

• Record-breaking start for Leighton Leisure and Community Centre as memberships and attendance surge· 10 Sept 2026
• Green Flags flying high at Central Bedfordshire schools· 8 Sept 2026
• Fostering families enjoy summer picnic at Whipsnade Zoo· 2 Sept 2026
• Housing Matters - August 2026· 2 Sept 2026
• Electric cars, e-bikes and energy savings: Free event comes to Leighton Buzzard· 28 Aug 2026

Source: Central Bedfordshire Council

294,252 residents in Central Bedfordshire · 411/km²

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

Source: ONS Census 2021 (local authority)

Among the least deprived areas in England

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

Source: English Indices of Deprivation 2019

£2,516 a year · Band D, 2026-27

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

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

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)

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

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

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

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

359 applications decided

83.8% granted · 301 granted, 58 refused

Source: MHCLG planning statistics (PS2) · 2026 Q1

Alex Mayer

Labour

Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard

Source: UK Parliament

Independent (minority)

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

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

• Schools5
• Parks & greens3
• Restaurants & cafés3

Source: OpenStreetMap (within ~1 mile)

13,830 active business enterprises in the area

Source: ONS UK Business Counts (2025)

13 jobs advertised · £29,120 avg

e.g. Online Italian Tutor - Part Time, Online Maths Tutor - Part Time, Online Italian Tutoring Job in Heath and Reach – Flexible Schedule

Source: Adzuna

£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

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

91% low-carbon electricity

Wind 61% · Nuclear 28% · Gas 9% · Biomass 2%

39 gCO₂/kWh · low intensity

Latest estimate for East England · National Grid ESO

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

• 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

Open UK Parliament petitions most signed in Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard:

• Make a public animal abuser register & automatically ban ownership435 local signatures · 242,705 nationwide
• Do not ban social media for under 16s384 local signatures · 217,501 nationwide
• Review the evidence and fund the addition of SMA to the Newborn Screening Test374 local signatures · 151,287 nationwide
• Ban anyone convicted of terrorism offences from standing for public office347 local signatures · 205,058 nationwide
• Change surrogacy law to recognise intended parents from birth285 local signatures · 112,809 nationwide

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

• 
  Heath and Reach · 0.3 km

  Heath and Reach is a village and civil parish near the Chiltern Hills in Bedfordshire, England. It is 2 miles (3.2 km) north of Leighton Buzzard and 3 miles (4.8 km) south of Woburn and adjoins the county boundary wit…

• Leighton Buzzard Golf Club · 0.8 km

  Leighton Buzzard Golf Club is a golf club near the village of Heath and Reach, north of Leighton Buzzard in Bedfordshire, England. The club was founded in 1925 with a nine-hole golf course, that was later extended to…

• 
  Stockgrove Country Park · 1.1 km

  Stockgrove Country Park is located in England on the Bedfordshire/Buckinghamshire border in the parish of Heath and Reach. Stockgrove Park's 80 acres is part of the larger 400 acre woods called Rushmere Country Park,…

• Vandyke Upper School · 1.2 km

  Vandyke Upper School and Community College is an academy school and sixth form in Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, England. As of 2022, there are approximately 1500 students in both the sixth form at Vandyke, and compu…

• 
  Double Arches Pit · 1.4 km

  Double Arches Pit was a sand quarry near the village and civil parish of Heath and Reach, Bedfordshire, England. It is now a Site of Special Scientific Interest and a Geological Conservation Review site.

• 
  King's Wood, Heath and Reach · 1.6 km

  King's Wood is an area of ancient woodland in the parish of Heath and Reach in Bedfordshire, England. The wood lies north of the village of Heath and Reach and east of Great Brickhill and with neighboring Bakers Wood…

Source: Wikipedia (text under CC BY-SA)