My Area UK

Barley

Barley is a village in Hertfordshire, England, with a population of around 662. It has around 1 GP surgery and 8 bus stops serving the area. The nearest railway station is Royston, 5.3 km away, and in June 2026, there was around 1 recorded street crime, 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 Barley area — all from official UK open data.

On deprivation, the North Hertfordshire area is among the least deprived areas in England (IoD2019). The wider council area has around 133,210 residents at roughly 355 people per km².

Council
North Hertfordshire
County
Hertfordshire
Constituency
North East Hertfordshire
Police force
Hertfordshire
60/ 100

My Area Score

Good

Ranked 81st of 294 English council areas — better than 72% of them.

Low crime96
Home affordability29
Affordable rents33
Good schools41
Life expectancy50
Low deprivation85
Employment78
Low council tax47

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

19°CPatchy rain nearby

  • Today: 22° / 13° · 43% rain
  • Tomorrow: 22° / 17° · Patchy rain nearby

Source: WeatherAPI

Daylight

Sunrise 06:28Sunset 19:24

12h 56m of daylight today

Next bank holiday: Christmas Day, Fri 25 Dec

Source: sunrise-sunset.org · gov.uk

Air quality

13US AQI · Good

Main pollutant: coarse particles (PM10)

Source: WAQI · Haringey Roadside, United Kingdom

Crime

3 reported · July 2026

  • Violence & sexual offences2
  • Anti-social behaviour1

Neighbourhood team: Royston and Royston Rural · Hertfordshire

Local policing priorities

  • We’re currently consulting the public on the issues they would like to see their local policing teams focusing on as a priority.
  • The priorities for May to August are as follows: • Road safety in Royston Urban and Rural. An increased focus on speeding, mobile phone u…

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

Road safety

200 reported road collisions (2024)

44 killed or seriously injured · 281 casualties · 15 collisions per 10,000 residents

Source: DfT reported road collisions (STATS19)

Food hygiene

6 food businesses within 2 miles

  • 6 rated 4–5 ★ (5 top)
  • 0 rated 0–2 (poor)

Source: Food Standards Agency

Flood risk

No active flood warnings nearby.

Buses & trains

  • Nearest station: Royston (5.3 km)
  • 8 bus stops within ~½ mile

Live trains from Royston (5.3 km):

Loading live departures…

Source: OpenStreetMap, National Rail

House prices

£422,616 average 7.8% YoY

Across North Hertfordshire · to 2026-06

Detached£808,652
Semi-detached£485,755
Terraced£379,630
Flat£229,057

Source: UK House Price Index (HM Land Registry)

Private rents

£1,429 average monthly rent 5% YoY

  • 1 bed £1,020
  • 2 bed £1,279
  • 3 bed £1,569

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

Affordability

10.0× house price to earnings

A typical home costs 10.0 times median annual pay (9.9× for cheaper homes vs lower pay).

Source: ONS house price to workplace earnings ratio · 2025

Fuel prices

  • Cheapest petrol: 154.9p · Esso (4.5 km)
  • Cheapest diesel: 189.9p · Esso (4.5 km)

4 stations within ~8 miles

Source: CMA fuel price scheme

EV charging

5 charging locations within ~8 km

  • 2 with rapid charging (50 kW+)
  • Fastest nearby: 120 kW
  • Nearest: EVC Heydon Grange Golf Club (4.5 km)

Source: Open Charge Map

Sport & leisure

  • Swimming pools7
  • Sports pitches7
  • Playgrounds1

Source: OpenStreetMap (within ~1 mile)

Population

133,210 residents in North Hertfordshire · 355/km²

  • Under 16: 19%
  • 16–64: 61%
  • 65+: 19%

Source: ONS Census 2021 (local authority)

Deprivation

Among the least deprived areas in England

Ranked 269 of 317 English local authorities (1 = most deprived)

Source: English Indices of Deprivation 2019

Council tax

£2,449 a year · Band D, 2026-27

Most homes here are Band C (34% of 60,040)

A £1,632
B £1,904
C £2,176
D £2,449
E £2,993
F £3,537
G £4,081
H £4,897

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

Schools

69 schools · 19,871 pupils

53 primary · 6 secondary · 10 other

Ofsted: 26 of 30 graded schools rated Good or Outstanding (87%)

65inspected under Ofsted’s 2024+ framework (graded by area, no single overall grade)

Secondary schools:

  • Fearnhill SchoolGood
  • The Highfield SchoolGood
  • Hitchin Boys' School
  • Hitchin Girls' School
  • The Knights Templar School
  • The Priory School

Source: DfE Get Information about Schools · Ofsted · North Hertfordshire

Care & health services

1,172 CQC-registered services

  • Care homes257
  • GP practices170
  • Dentists295
  • Homecare agencies329
  • Hospitals & hospices34

CQC ratings: 86% of rated services Good or Outstanding · 7 Inadequate

Source: Care Quality Commission · Hertfordshire

Heritage & planning

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

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

Planning decisions

255 applications decided

88.6% granted · 226 granted, 29 refused

Source: MHCLG planning statistics (PS2) · 2026 Q1

Your MP

Chris Hinchliff

Labour

North East Hertfordshire

Recent votes:

  • NoSocial Housing Bill [Lords]: Reasoned Amendment to Second Reading
  • AyeDraft Plant Health, Seeds, Seed Potatoes and Plant Propagating Material (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2026
  • NoHealth Bill: Report Stage: Amendment 1
  • NoHealth Bill: Report Stage: New Clause 143

Source: UK Parliament

Council control

Labour (minority)

  • Lab 23
  • Con 7
  • LD 20
  • Oth 1

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

Amenities nearby

  • Schools1
  • GPs & clinics1
  • Parks & greens1

Source: OpenStreetMap (within ~1 mile)

Local businesses

6,995 active business enterprises in the area

Source: ONS UK Business Counts (2025)

Jobs

13 jobs advertised

e.g. Online Photography Tutoring Job in Barley (Lancashire) – Flexible Schedule, Online Chemistry Tutoring Job in Barley (Lancashire) – Flexible Schedule, Online History Tutor - Part Time

Source: Adzuna

Local economy

£983 median full-time weekly pay

2.4% of residents aged 16–64 claim unemployment-related benefits

£31,048 disposable income per head (2024)

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

Energy efficiency

49% of homes rated EPC C or above

Most common band: C · 66,549 certificates

8.5% of households were in fuel poverty (2023)

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

Grid electricity

87% low-carbon electricity

Wind 57% · Nuclear 18% · Gas 12% · Biomass 10%

60 gCO₂/kWh · low intensity

Latest estimate for East England · National Grid ESO

Health

Life expectancy: 84 yrs women · 80.2 yrs men

66% of adults overweight or obese

Source: OHID Fingertips · 2025

Wellbeing

  • Life satisfaction7.6
  • Feeling worthwhile7.8
  • Happiness yesterday7.6
  • Anxiety yesterday (lower is better)3.4

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

Health services

6 GP surgeries · 6 pharmacies in SG8

  • Bassingbourn Medical Centre
  • Orchard Surgery,Melbourn
  • Roysia Surgery

Source: NHS Organisation Data Service

Local petitions

Open UK Parliament petitions most signed in North East Hertfordshire:

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

Notable places nearby

  • Barley, Hertfordshire · 0.2 km

    Barley is a village and civil parish in the North Hertfordshire district of Hertfordshire, England. The place-name refers to a lea or meadow and not to the grain-producing plant. The Prime Meridian passes to the west…

  • Newsells Park · 1.7 km

    Newsells Park is a country house and estate at Barkway in Hertfordshire.

  • Great Chishill · 2.0 km

    Great Chishill is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Great and Little Chishill, in the South Cambridgeshire district, in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. The village is about 1 mile (1.6 km)…

  • Little Chishill · 2.3 km

    Little Chishill is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Great and Little Chishill, in the South Cambridgeshire district, in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is 1 mile (1.6 km) south of the…

  • Barkway Chalk Pit · 2.6 km

    Barkway Chalk Pit is a small nature reserve in Barkway in North Hertfordshire. It was managed by the Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust (HMWT). In February 2016 HMWT announced that three sites, Barkway Chalk Pit, Hill…

  • RAF Barkway · 2.9 km

    Royal Air Force Barkway or more simply RAF Barkway was one of the smallest Royal Air Force stations in the United Kingdom. It was a communications station and was a small collection of buildings and a large radio mast.

Source: Wikipedia (text under CC BY-SA)

Frequently asked questions

Where is Barley?
Barley is a town in Hertfordshire, England, in the North Hertfordshire local authority.
What is the population of Barley?
Barley has an approximate settlement population of 662.
How deprived is Barley?
The North Hertfordshire local authority, which includes Barley, is among the least deprived areas in England on the IoD2019.