Wixams

9°COvercast

• Today: 11° / 7° · 26% rain
• Tomorrow: 11° / 5° · Partly Cloudy

Source: WeatherAPI

Sunrise 07:02Sunset 16:28

9h 26m 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

70 reported · August 2026▲ 37% YoY

• Violence & sexual offences29
• Anti-social behaviour19
• Other theft6
• Vehicle crime5

Neighbourhood team: Wilstead, Shortstown, Willington · 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)

79 food businesses within 2 miles

• 65 rated 4–5 ★ (60 top)
• 1 rated 0–2 (poor)

Source: Food Standards Agency

• Nearest station: Kempston Hardwick (2.8 km)
• 6 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 (11.8 km)
• Cheapest diesel: 195.9p · ESSO (11.1 km)

3 stations within ~8 miles

Source: CMA fuel price scheme

51 charging locations within ~8 km

• 14 with rapid charging (50 kW+)
• Fastest nearby: 300 kW
• Nearest: Motorvogue Bedford-Hyundai (2.5 km)

Source: Open Charge Map

• Swimming pools3
• Sports pitches13
• Playgrounds11

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

• Not in the Green Belt
• 16 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

Blake Stephenson

Conservative

Mid Bedfordshire

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)

• Schools8
• Pharmacies1
• Parks & greens12
• Restaurants & cafés5

Source: OpenStreetMap (within ~1 mile)

8,405 active business enterprises in the area

Source: ONS UK Business Counts (2026)

£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

57% low-carbon electricity

Gas 42% · Wind 38% · Nuclear 13% · Biomass 6%

174 gCO₂/kWh · high 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

15 GP surgeries · 8 pharmacies in MK42

• London Road Health Centre
• Cauldwell Medical Centre
• King Street Surgery

Source: NHS Organisation Data Service

Open UK Parliament petitions most signed in Mid Bedfordshire:

• Change surrogacy law to recognise intended parents from birth340 local signatures · 113,305 nationwide
• Protect legal right to support for children with SEND292 local signatures · 111,357 nationwide
• Hold a UK-wide briefing on climate and nature risks215 local signatures · 127,144 nationwide
• Support the Ceramics Industry and protect British manufacturing jobs and skills204 local signatures · 111,154 nationwide
• Remove sentence reductions for guilty pleas in controlling and coercive cases177 local signatures · 105,832 nationwide

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

• Wixams Academy · 0.6 km

  Wixams Academy is a co-educational secondary school and sixth form located in Wixams in the English county of Bedfordshire.

• 
  Wixams · 0.8 km

  Wixams is a new town and civil parish located in Bedfordshire, England, which has been under construction since early 2007. It is expected to become the third largest settlement in the Borough of Bedford after Bedford…

• ROF Elstow · 1.0 km

  Royal Ordnance Factory (ROF) Elstow was one of sixteen UK Ministry of Supply, World War II, Filling Factories. It was a medium-sized filling factory, Filling Factory No. 16, which filled and packed munitions. It was…

• 
  2026 Bedford train collision · 1.6 km

  The 2026 Bedford train collision occurred on 19 June 2026, when two East Midlands Railway trains collided on the Midland Main Line south of Elstow, near Bedford, England. One train driver was killed and over 160 peopl…

• Wixams railway station · 1.7 km

  Wixams railway station is a proposed railway station on the Midland Main Line to serve Wixams, a new town development in Bedfordshire, England. The station will be situated between Bedford and Flitwick.

• 
  Elstow · 1.8 km

  Elstow is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Bedford, Bedfordshire, England, about 2 miles (3.2 km) south of Bedford town centre.

Source: Wikipedia (text under CC BY-SA)