Friar's Wash

18°CCloudy

• Today: 22° / 12° · 62% rain
• Tomorrow: 21° / 17° · Overcast

Source: WeatherAPI

Sunrise 06:30Sunset 19:25

12h 56m of daylight today

Next bank holiday: Christmas Day, Fri 25 Dec

Source: sunrise-sunset.org · gov.uk

25US AQI · Good

Main pollutant: fine particles (PM2.5)

Source: WAQI · Brent - Ikea, United Kingdom

16 reported · July 2026▼ 45% YoY

• Violence & sexual offences5
• Vehicle crime4
• Public order3
• Anti-social behaviour2

Neighbourhood team: Hemel Hempstead North Rural, West and Central · Hertfordshire

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

160 reported road collisions (2024)

32 killed or seriously injured · 205 casualties · 10.3 collisions per 10,000 residents

Source: DfT reported road collisions (STATS19)

33 food businesses within 2 miles

• 26 rated 4–5 ★ (21 top)
• 1 rated 0–2 (poor)

Source: Food Standards Agency

• Nearest station: Harpenden (5.3 km)
• 9 bus stops within ~½ mile

Source: OpenStreetMap, National Rail

£459,438 average▲ 1.8% YoY

Across Dacorum · to 2026-06

Source: UK House Price Index (HM Land Registry)

£1,583 average monthly rent▲ 0.2% YoY

• 1 bed £1,091
• 2 bed £1,368
• 3 bed £1,643

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

11.9× house price to earnings

A typical home costs 11.9 times median annual pay (12.1× for cheaper homes vs lower pay).

Source: ONS house price to workplace earnings ratio · 2025

• Cheapest petrol: 161.9p · Asda (5.5 km)
• Cheapest diesel: 145.8p · AppleGreen (5.8 km)

19 stations within ~8 miles

Source: CMA fuel price scheme

60 charging locations within ~8 km

• 9 with rapid charging (50 kW+)
• Fastest nearby: 300 kW
• Nearest: Harvester Flamstead (0.4 km)

Source: Open Charge Map

• Swimming pools5
• Sports pitches16
• Playgrounds1

Source: OpenStreetMap (within ~1 mile)

155,081 residents in Dacorum · 730/km²

• Under 16: 20%
• 16–64: 62%
• 65+: 17%

Source: ONS Census 2021 (local authority)

Less deprived than the average in England

Ranked 240 of 317 English local authorities (1 = most deprived)

Source: English Indices of Deprivation 2019

£2,409 a year · Band D, 2026-27

Most homes here are Band C (31% of 67,930)

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

80 schools · 28,467 pupils

55 primary · 9 secondary · 16 other

Ofsted: 20 of 24 graded schools rated Good or Outstanding (83%)

70inspected under Ofsted’s 2024+ framework (graded by area, no single overall grade)

Source: DfE Get Information about Schools · Ofsted · Dacorum

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

• Within the Green Belt
• 40 listed buildings within ~1.5 km

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

258 applications decided

85.3% granted · 220 granted, 38 refused

Source: MHCLG planning statistics (PS2) · 2026 Q1

Victoria Collins

Liberal Democrat

Harpenden and Berkhamsted

Source: UK Parliament

Liberal Democrat (minority)

• Lab 4
• Con 18
• LD 19
• Oth 10

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

• Schools1
• Parks & greens2
• Restaurants & cafés3

Source: OpenStreetMap (within ~1 mile)

8,930 active business enterprises in the area

Source: ONS UK Business Counts (2025)

£889 median full-time weekly pay

3.2% of residents aged 16–64 claim unemployment-related benefits

£31,901 disposable income per head (2024)

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

50% of homes rated EPC C or above

Most common band: C · 76,523 certificates

8.2% of households were in fuel poverty (2023)

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

92% low-carbon electricity

Wind 46% · Solar 28% · Nuclear 16% · Gas 8%

33 gCO₂/kWh · low intensity

Latest estimate for East England · National Grid ESO

Life expectancy: 84.8 yrs women · 81.2 yrs men

61% of adults overweight or obese

Source: OHID Fingertips · 2025

• Life satisfaction7.6
• Feeling worthwhile7.9
• Happiness yesterday7.7
• Anxiety yesterday (lower is better)2.9

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

Open UK Parliament petitions most signed in Harpenden and Berkhamsted:

• Do not ban social media for under 16s401 local signatures · 217,501 nationwide
• Make a public animal abuser register & automatically ban ownership357 local signatures · 242,705 nationwide
• Hold a referendum to bring the water industry into public ownership324 local signatures · 163,883 nationwide
• Review the evidence and fund the addition of SMA to the Newborn Screening Test230 local signatures · 151,287 nationwide
• Ban anyone convicted of terrorism offences from standing for public office224 local signatures · 205,058 nationwide

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

• 
  Saunders Almshouses · 0.6 km

  The Saunders Almshouses are Grade II* listed almshouses in Flamstead, Hertfordshire, England. They date from 1669 and were built for Thomas Saunders of Beechwood Park.

• 
  Flamstead · 0.7 km

  Flamstead is a village and civil parish in north-west Hertfordshire, England, near the junction of the A5 and the M1 motorway. At the 2021 Census, the parish had a population of 1,551.

• 
  Harpenden Rural · 2.4 km

  Harpenden Rural is a civil parish in the City and District of St Albans in Hertfordshire, England, to the west of Harpenden parish. In 2021 the parish had a population of 454.

• 
  Markyate · 2.5 km

  Markyate is a village and civil parish in north-west Hertfordshire, close to the border with Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire.

• Markyate Rural District · 2.8 km

  Markyate Rural District was a short-lived rural district in Hertfordshire, England from 1894 to 1897, on the borders with Bedfordshire.

• 
  Kinsbourne Green · 2.8 km

  Kinsbourne Green is a small hamlet to the north-west of Harpenden in Hertfordshire, England. The hamlet is now geographically virtually contiguous with Harpenden. Kinsbourne Green is in the civil parish of Harpenden R…

Source: Wikipedia (text under CC BY-SA)