My Area UK

Halstead (Braintree)

Halstead (Braintree) is a town or village in Essex, England, offering 2 GP surgeries or clinics, 1 supermarket, and 6 restaurants or cafés, with 33 bus stops and Castle Hedingham railway station 7.1 km away, and 71 recorded street crimes in June 2026, most commonly violence and sexual offences. This page gathers weather, crime, food hygiene, transport, flood risk, house prices, population, deprivation and your local MP for the Halstead (Braintree) area — all from official UK open data.

On deprivation, the Braintree area is less deprived than the average in England (IoD2019). The wider council area has around 155,270 residents at roughly 254 people per km².

Council
Braintree
County
Essex
Constituency
Braintree
Police force
Essex
60/ 100

My Area Score

Good

Ranked 80th of 294 English council areas — better than 73% of them.

Low crime69
Home affordability37
Affordable rents39
Good schools62
Life expectancy53
Low deprivation64
Employment65
Low council tax85

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°CPatchy rain nearby

  • Today: 22° / 17° · 73% rain
  • Tomorrow: 25° / 16° · Patchy rain nearby

Source: WeatherAPI

Daylight

Sunrise 06:27Sunset 19:19

12h 52m of daylight today

Next bank holiday: Christmas Day, Fri 25 Dec

Source: sunrise-sunset.org · gov.uk

Air quality

14US AQI · Good

Main pollutant: ozone

Source: WAQI · Southend-on-Sea, United Kingdom

Crime

75 reported · July 2026 14% YoY

  • Violence & sexual offences30
  • Anti-social behaviour11
  • Public order9
  • Shoplifting7

2 stop & searches

Neighbourhood team: Braintree Central · Essex

Local policing priorities

  • Concerns from residents about vehicle nuisance in hotspot locations including Braintree town centre, Braintree Retail and Leisure Park, C…
  • Concerns about antisocial behaviour and shoplifting in key hotspot locations including Braintree town centre and Braintree Village shoppi…

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

Road safety

235 reported road collisions (2024)

67 killed or seriously injured · 294 casualties · 15.1 collisions per 10,000 residents

Source: DfT reported road collisions (STATS19)

Food hygiene

85 food businesses within 2 miles

  • 76 rated 4–5 ★ (61 top)
  • 3 rated 0–2 (poor)

Source: Food Standards Agency

Flood risk

1 active warning/alert

  • Flood alert: The Essex coast from Clacton to and including, St Peters Flat and the Colne and Blackwater estuaries

Source: Environment Agency

Buses & trains

  • Nearest station: Castle Hedingham (7.1 km)
  • 33 bus stops within ~½ mile

Live trains from Chappel & Wakes Colne (8.4 km):

Loading live departures…

Source: OpenStreetMap, National Rail

House prices

£330,637 average 2% YoY

Across Braintree · to 2026-06

Detached£572,705
Semi-detached£342,384
Terraced£274,327
Flat£156,192

Source: UK House Price Index (HM Land Registry)

Private rents

£1,217 average monthly rent 2.8% YoY

  • 1 bed £853
  • 2 bed £1,103
  • 3 bed £1,359

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

Affordability

9.2× house price to earnings

A typical home costs 9.2 times median annual pay (10.0× for cheaper homes vs lower pay).

Source: ONS house price to workplace earnings ratio · 2025

Fuel prices

  • Cheapest petrol: 169.9p · Shell (4.9 km)
  • Cheapest diesel: 195.9p · ESSO (0.5 km)

3 stations within ~8 miles

Source: CMA fuel price scheme

EV charging

2 charging locations within ~8 km

  • Fastest nearby: 22 kW
  • Nearest: Milbank Concrete Products (4.5 km)

Source: Open Charge Map

Sport & leisure

  • Sports centres2
  • Swimming pools1
  • Sports pitches2
  • Playgrounds4

Source: OpenStreetMap (within ~1 mile)

Local news

Population

155,270 residents in Braintree · 254/km²

  • Under 16: 18%
  • 16–64: 61%
  • 65+: 20%

Source: ONS Census 2021 (local authority)

Deprivation

Less deprived than the average in England

Ranked 203 of 317 English local authorities (1 = most deprived)

Source: English Indices of Deprivation 2019

Council tax

£2,280 a year · Band D, 2026-27

Most homes here are Band C (29% of 71,120)

A £1,520
B £1,774
C £2,027
D £2,280
E £2,787
F £3,294
G £3,801
H £4,561

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

Schools

68 schools · 21,326 pupils

52 primary · 8 secondary · 8 other

Ofsted: 30 of 33 graded schools rated Good or Outstanding (91%)

63inspected under Ofsted’s 2024+ framework (graded by area, no single overall grade)

Secondary schools:

  • Honywood SchoolGood
  • Lift MaltingsRequires improvement
  • Notley High School and Braintree Sixth FormRequires improvement
  • Tabor AcademyRequires improvement
  • Alec Hunter Academy
  • Hedingham School and Sixth Form
  • Lift New Rickstones
  • The Ramsey Academy, Halstead

Source: DfE Get Information about Schools · Ofsted · Braintree

Care & health services

1,571 CQC-registered services

  • Care homes407
  • GP practices230
  • Dentists309
  • Homecare agencies475
  • Hospitals & hospices39

CQC ratings: 87% of rated services Good or Outstanding · 17 Inadequate

Source: Care Quality Commission · Essex

Heritage & planning

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

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

Planning decisions

215 applications decided

85.6% granted · 184 granted, 31 refused

Source: MHCLG planning statistics (PS2) · 2026 Q1

Your MP

Sir James Cleverly

Conservative

Braintree

Recent votes:

  • NoTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill: Second Reading
  • NoClosure motion
  • NoDraft Plant Health, Seeds, Seed Potatoes and Plant Propagating Material (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2026
  • AyeHealth Bill: Report Stage: Amendment 1

Source: UK Parliament

Council control

Conservative majority

  • Lab 9
  • Con 25
  • Grn 4
  • Ref 1
  • Oth 10

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

Amenities nearby

  • Schools4
  • GPs & clinics2
  • Supermarkets3
  • Restaurants & cafés8

Source: OpenStreetMap (within ~1 mile)

Local businesses

7,490 active business enterprises in the area

Source: ONS UK Business Counts (2025)

Local economy

£826 median full-time weekly pay

2.7% of residents aged 16–64 claim unemployment-related benefits

£26,019 disposable income per head (2024)

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

Energy efficiency

48% of homes rated EPC C or above

Most common band: D · 68,719 certificates

10.1% of households were in fuel poverty (2023)

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

Grid electricity

56% low-carbon electricity

Gas 42% · Nuclear 23% · Solar 23% · Biomass 6%

173 gCO₂/kWh · high intensity

Latest estimate for East England · National Grid ESO

Health

Life expectancy: 83.9 yrs women · 80.5 yrs men

75% of adults overweight or obese

Source: OHID Fingertips · 2025

Wellbeing

  • Life satisfaction7.3
  • Feeling worthwhile7.7
  • Happiness yesterday7.6
  • 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 Braintree:

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

Notable places nearby

  • Halstead · 0.3 km

    Halstead is a town and civil parish in the Braintree district of Essex, England. It lies on the River Colne, 6 miles (10 km) north-east of Braintree and 12 miles (19 km) north-west of Colchester. At the 2021 census th…

  • St. Francis of Assisi, Halstead · 0.4 km

    St Francis of Assisi, Halstead is a Catholic parish church in Halstead, Essex.

  • Halstead railway station · 0.4 km

    Halstead railway station was located in Halstead, Essex. It was 56 miles 34 chains (90.81 km) from London Liverpool Street via Marks Tey. It closed in 1962. The station was demolished after closure and the site has be…

  • Halstead Town F.C. · 0.7 km

    Halstead Town Football Club is a football club based in Halstead, Essex, England. They are currently members of the Essex Senior League and play at Rosemary Lane.

  • Holy Trinity Church, Halstead · 0.7 km

    Holy Trinity Church is a redundant Anglican church in the town of Halstead, Essex, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building, and is under the care of…

  • The Ramsey Academy · 0.7 km

    The Ramsey Academy is a coeducational secondary school with academy status, located in Halstead, Essex, England.

Source: Wikipedia (text under CC BY-SA)

Frequently asked questions

Where is Halstead (Braintree)?
Halstead (Braintree) is a town in Essex, England, in the Braintree local authority.
How deprived is Halstead (Braintree)?
The Braintree local authority, which includes Halstead (Braintree), is less deprived than the average in England on the IoD2019.